Reconstructive Explanation: Explanation as Complex Problem Solving

Existing explanation facilities are typically far more appropriate for knowledge engineers engaged in system maintenance than for endusers of the system. This is because the explanation is little more than a trace of the detailed problem-solving steps. An alternative approach recognizes that an effective explanation often needs to substantially reorganize the line of reasoning and bring to bear additional information to support the result. Explanation itself becomes a complex problem-solving process that depends not only on the line of reasoning, but also on additional knowledge of the domain. We present a new computational model of explanation and argue that it results in significant improvements over traditional approaches.

Authors

• Michael R. Wick
• William B. Thompson Michael T. Checky

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