Skip to main content
Log in

Interactive user modeling: An integrative explicit-implicit approach

  • Published:
User Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

User modeling issues are examined in the context of a user-adapted guidance system. The system provides users with instructions about natural tasks without introducing a special time-consuming sub-dialog to learn the user's knowledge. A model for providing such guidance is developed on the basis of a phenomenological analysis of human guidance, and illustrated by a system that gives directions in geographical domains. The main features of the user model design include: (1) Bothimplicit andexplicit acquisition methods are employed in a flexible manner; (2) The guidance instructions and the user model are generated incrementally and interchangeably; (3) User's responses and no-responses are employed as a source of information for the user modeling. The model and the resulting system's performance are examined in light of recent development in the cognitive literature.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Afzal, B. and Y. Wllts: 1991, ‘Beliefs, Stereotypes and Dynamic Agent Modeling’.User Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction 1(1), 33–65.

    Google Scholar 

  • Agre, P. E.: 1988, ‘The Dynamic Structure of Everyday Life’. Technical Report 1085, MIT.

  • Austin, J.: 1962,How to do Things with Words. England: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carberry, S.: 1989, ‘Plan Recognition and Its Use in Understanding Dialog’. In: Alfred Kobsa and Wolfgang Wahlster (eds.):User Models in Dialog Systems. Berlin/New York: Springer-Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cawsey, A.: 1989, ‘Explanatory Dialogues’.Interacting with Computers 1(1), 69–92.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chin, D. N.: 1988, ‘Intelligent Agents as a Basis for Natural Language Interfaces’. PhD thesis, Department of EECS, Berkeley: University of California.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chin, D. N.: 1989, ‘Knome: Modeling What the User Knows in UC’. In: Alfred Kobsa and Wolfgang Wahlster (eds.):User Models in Dialog Systems. Berlin/New York: Springer-Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clancey, W. J.: 1982, ‘Rules for Guiding, a Case Method Dialogue’. In: D. H. Sleeman and J. S. Brown (eds.):Intelligent Tutoring Systems. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, H. H. and S. E. Haviland: 1977, ‘Comprehension and the Given-New Contract’. In: R. O. Freedle (ed.):Discourse Production and Comprehension. Norwood Ablox publisher corporation.

  • Downs, R. M. and D. Stea: 1977,Maps in Mind Reflections on Cognitve Mapping Harper and Row Publishers.

  • Finin, T.: 1989, ‘Gums-General User Modeling Shell’. In: A. Kobsa and W. Wahlster (eds.):User Models in Dialog Systems. Berlin/New York: Springer-Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goffman, E.: 1981,Forms of Talk. University of Pennsylvania Press.

  • Goldberg, J.: 1975, ‘A System for the Transfer of Instructions in Natural Language’.Semiotica 14, 269–296.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grice, H.P.: 1975, ‘Logic and Conversation’. In: P. Cole and J. L. Morgan (eds.):Syntax and Semantics, Volume 3:‘Speech Acts’. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jameson, A.: 1987, ‘How to Appear to be Conforming to the “Maxims” Even if You Prefer to Violate Them’. In: G. Kempen (ed.):Natural Language Generation. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kass, R. J.: 1988, ‘Acquiring a Model of the User's Beliefs From a Cooperative Advisory Dialog’. PhD thesis, Department of Computer and Information Science, University of Pennsylvania.

  • Kass, R. J. and T. Finin: 1988, ‘Modeling the User in Natural Language Systems’.Computational Linguistics 14(3).

  • Render, J. R. and A. Leff: 1989, ‘Why Direction-Giving is Hard: The Complexity of Using Landmarks in One-Dimensional Navigation’.IEEE Transaction on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics 19(6).

  • Lynch, K.: 1960,The Image of the City Cambridge Mass: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marybury, M. T.: 1990, ‘Custom Explanations: Exploiting User Models to Plan Multisentential Text’. Unpublished paper from the Second International Workshop on User Modeling, Honolulu, Hawaii.

  • McCarthy, J.: 1979, ‘Epistemological Problems for Artificial Intelligence’. In:Proceedings of IJCAI '77, pp. 1038–1044.

  • McCoy, K. F.: 1989, ‘Highlighting aUser Model to Respond to Misconceptions’. In: A. Kobsa and W. Wahlster (eds.):User Models inDialog Systems. Berlin/New York: Springer-Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morik, K.: 1989, ‘User Models and Conversational Settings: Modeling the User's Wants’. In: A. Kobsa and W. Wahlster (eds.):User Models in Dialog Systems. Berlin/New York: Springer-Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morrow, D. G. and H. H. Clark: 1988, ‘Interpreting Words in Spatial Descriptions’.Language and Cognitive Processes 3(4), 275–291.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paris, C. L.: 1989, ‘The Use of Explicit User Models in a Generation System for Tailoring Answers to the User's Level of Expertise’. In: A. Kobsa and W. Wahlster (eds.):User Models in Dialog Systems. Berlin/New York: Springer-Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pearl, J: 1988,Probabilistic Reasoning in Intelligent Systems. Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, Inc.

  • Pollack, M. E., J. Hirschberg, and B. Webber: 1982, ‘User Participation in the Reasoning Processes of Expert Systems’. InProceedings of the AAAI, pp. 358–361. (A longer version of this paper appears as Technical Report MS-CIS-82-9, Department of Computer and Information Science, University of Pennsylvania.)

  • Quilici, A.: 1989, ‘Detecting and Responding to Plan-Oriented Misconceptions’. In: A. Kobsa and W. Wahlster (eds.):User Models in Dialog Systems. Berlin/New York: Springer-Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rich, E.: 1979, ‘User Modeling Via Stereotypes’.Cognitive Science 3(4), 329–354.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rumelhart, D.: 1974, ‘The Room Theory’. Unpublished manuscript, the University of California at San-Diego.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sacks, H., E. Schegloff, and G. Jefferson: 1978, ‘A Simplest Systematics for the Organization of Turn-Taking in Conversation’. In: J. Schenkein (ed),Studies in the Organization of Conversational Interaction. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saville-Troike, M.: 1985, ‘The Place of Silence in an Integrated Theory of Communication’. In: D. Tannen and M. Saville-Troike (eds.):Perspectives on Silence. Alex Publishing Corp.

  • Schegloff, E. A.: 1972, ‘Notes on a Conversational Practice: Formulating Place’. In: D. N. Sudnow (ed.):Studies in Social Interaction. New York: The Free Press, pp. 75–119.

    Google Scholar 

  • Searle, J. R.: 1975, ‘Indirect Speech Acts’. In: P. Cole and J. L. Morgan (eds.):Syntax and Semantics. Volume 3:‘Speech Acts’. New York: Academic Press, pp. 59–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shanon, B.: 1976, ‘Overseas Calls’.Linguistic Inquiry 7, 724–726.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shanon, B.: 1983, ‘Answers to Where Questions’.Discourse Processes 6, 319–352.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shifroni, E.: 1984, ‘Directions-Giving in a City’. Unpublished MA thesis, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

  • Shifroni, E. and U. Oman: 1991, ‘Figsl: A Flexible Guidance Dialog System’. In:Proceedings of the 8thIsraeli Symposium on Artificial Intelligence. Color print press Jerusalem, pp. 51–68.

  • Shifroni, E. and B. Shanon: 1991, ‘Flexible Interactive Guidance’. Technical report #9106, Center for Intelligent Systems, Technion, Haifa.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sleeman, D. H.: 1985, ‘UMFE: A User Modelling Front End Subsystem’.International Journal of Man-Machine Studies 23, 71–88.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sparck-Jones, K.: 1989, ‘Realism About User Modelling’. In: A. Kobsa and W. Wahlster (eds.):User Models in Dialog Systems. Berlin/New York: Springer-Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sperber, D. and D. Wilson: 1986,Relevance. Basil Blackwell Ltd.

  • Streeter, L. A. and D. Vitello: 1985, ‘How to Tell People Where to Go: Comparing Navigational Aids’.Internationaljournal of Man-Machine Studies 27, 549–562.

    Google Scholar 

  • Suchman, L. A.: 1988,Plans and Situated Actions: the Problem of Human-Machine Communication. Cambridge University Press.

  • Tzamir, Y: 1975, ‘The Impact of Spatial Regularity and Irregularity on Cognitive Mapping’. Technical report, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.

  • Whittaker, S. and P. Stenson: 1988, ‘Cues and Control in Expert-Client Dialogues’. Technical report, Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, Filton Road, Bristol BS12 6QZ, UK.

  • Wilensky, R., J. Mayfield, A. Albert, D. N. Chin, C. Cox, M. Luria, J. Martin, and D. Wu: 1986, ‘Uc-A Progress Report’. Technical report, Department of EECS, Berkeley: University of California.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winograd, T.: 1972,Understanding Natural Language. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woods, W. A., R. Kaplan, and B. Nash-Webber: 1972, ‘The Lunar Sciences Natural Language Information System: Final Report’. Technical report, BBN Rep. No. 2378, Cambridge, Mass.

  • Wu, D. and B. Horster: 1989, ‘Active Acquisition for User Modeling in Dialog Systems’. In:Program of the Eleventh Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, Ann Arbor, MI: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, pp. 987–994.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Additional information

E. Shifroni is a PhD candidate in Computer Science at the Technion. He received his B.A. in Mathematics and Computer Science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1982, and his M.S. degree in Computer Science from the same University in 1984. His primary interests lie in the areas of dialog systems and user modeling. This paper summarizes the current state of his thesis work on interactive user modeling.

B. Shanon studied philosophy and linguistics in Tel-Aviv university, and linguistics and psychology at Stanford (PhD in psychology, 1974). After teaching at MIT joined the Department of Psychology of the Hebrew University, of which he is now chairperson. Also served as a visiting professor at Cornell University and Swarthmore College, as a visiting fellow at Princeton University, and as a visiting scholar at the center of interdisciplinary Research of the University of Bielefeld and at the Rockefeller Foundation Study center in Bellagio. Research interest focus on the conceptual foundation of cognitive science, the phenomenology of human conscious mentation, and on the psychology of creativity. A monograph presenting a comprehensive critique of the representational view of mind and a search for alternatives to it is forthcoming.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Shifroni, E., Shanon, B. Interactive user modeling: An integrative explicit-implicit approach. User Model User-Adap Inter 2, 331–365 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01101109

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01101109

Key words

Navigation