Report Number: CS-TR-84-1018
Institution: Stanford University, Department of Computer Science
Title: Classification problem solving
Author: Clancey, William J.
Date: July 1984
Abstract: A broad range of heuristic programs--embracing forms of diagnosis. catalog selection, and skeletal planning--accomplish a kind of well-structured problem solving called classification. These programs have a characteristic inference structure that systematically relates data to a pre-enumerated set of solutions by abstraction, heuristic association, and refinement. This level of description specifies the knowledge needed to solve a problem, independent of its representation in a particular computer language. The classification problem-solving model provides a useful framework for recognizing and representing similar problems, for designing representation tools, and for understanding the problem-solving methods used by non-classification programs.
http://i.stanford.edu/pub/cstr/reports/cs/tr/84/1018/CS-TR-84-1018.pdf