Weak Slot-and-Filler Structures
Index assertions by the entities they describe.
Make it easy to describe properties of relations.
Are a form of object-oriented programming.
Support both monotonic and Nonmonotonic inference.
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A Semantic Network
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Representing Nonbinary Predicates
Unary Predicates can be rewritten as binary ones.
could be rewritten as
N-Place Predicates
becomes
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A Semantic Net Representing a Sentence
John gave the book to Mary.
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Some Important Distinctions
First try :
Second try :
Third try :
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Partitioned Semantic Nets
a)
b)
c)
d)
The dog bit the mail carrier.
Every dog has bitten a mail carrier.
Every dog in town has bitten the constable.
Every dog has bitten every mail carrier.
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A Simplified Frame System
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A Simplified Frame System (Contd)
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A Simplified Frame System (Contd)
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Representing the Class of All
as a Metaclass
Teams
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Representing the Class of All
as a Metaclass (Contd)
Teams
218
Classes and Metaclasses
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Representing Relationships among Classes
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Representing Relationships
Classes (Contd)
among
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Slots as Full Fledged Objects
We want to be able to represent and use the following properties of slots
(attributes or relations) :
The classes to which the attribute can be attached.
Constraints to either the type or the value of the attribute.
A value that all instances of a class must have by the definition of the class.
A default value for the attribute.
Rules for inheriting values for the attribute.
Rules for computing a value separately from inheritance.
An inverse attribute.
Whether the slot is single-valued or multivalued.
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Representing Slots as Frames, I
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Representing Slots as Frames, II
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Representing Slots as Frames, III
225
Representing Slots as Frames, IV
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Associating Defaults with Slots
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A Shorthand Notation for
slot-Range Specification
228
Representing Slot - Values
As simple frames :
Using Lambda Notation :
229
Tangled Hierarchies
230
More Tangled Hierarchies
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Defining Property Inheritance
Inferential Distance :
Class1 is closer to Class2 than to Class3, if and only if Class1 has an inference path
through Class2 to Class3 (in other words, Class2 is between Class1 and Class3).
We can now define the result of inheritance as follows: The set of competing values for a
slot S in a frame F contains all those values that
Can be derived from some frame X that is above F in the
isa hierarchy
Are not contradicted by some frame Y that has a
shorter inferential distance to F than X does
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Algorithm : Property Inheritance
To retrieve a value V for slot S of an instance F do:
1. Set CANDIDATES to empty.
2. Do breadth-first or depth-first search up the isa hierarchy from F, following all instance
and isa links. At each step, see if a value for S or one f its generalizations is stored.
(a) If a value is found, add it to CANDIDATES and terminate that branch of the search.
(b) If no value is found but there are instance or isa links upward, follow them.
(c) Otherwise, terminate the branch.
3. For each element C of CANDIDATES do:
(a) See if there is any other element of CANDIDATES that was derived from a class closer to F than
the class from which C came.
(b) If there is, then, remove C from CANDIDATES.
4. Check the cardinality of CANDIDATES:
(a) If it is 0, then report that no value was found.
(b) If it is 1, then return the single element of CANDIDATES as V.
(c) If it is greater than 1, report a contradiction.
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