The Use of Explanations in Knowledge-Based Systems: Cognitive Perspectives and a Process-Tracing Analysis

This exploratory research investigates the nature of explanation use and factors that influence it during users' interaction with a knowledge-based system (KBS) for decision-making. It draws upon several cognitive perspectives to help understand when, why, and how explanations are used. A verba...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of management information systems 2000-10, Vol.17 (2), p.153-179
Main Authors: Mao, Ji-Ye, Benbasat, Izak
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Artificial intelligence
Comprehension
Decision making
Domain knowledge
End users
Expert systems
EXPLANATIONS EXPLANATIONS IN EXPERT SYSTEMS KNOWLEDGE BASED SYSTEMS VERBAL PROTOCOL ANALYSIS
Financial analysis
Heuristics
Knowledge bases
Memory
Observational studies
Reasoning
Studies
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Summary:This exploratory research investigates the nature of explanation use and factors that influence it during users' interaction with a knowledge-based system (KBS) for decision-making. It draws upon several cognitive perspectives to help understand when, why, and how explanations are used. A verbal protocol analysis was conducted based on a laboratory experiment involving a KBS for financial analysis. Major categories of explanation use were identified, and accounted for with relevant cognitive perspectives. Results show that explanations were requested to deal with comprehension difficulties caused by various types of perceived anomalies in KBS output. There were qualitative and quantitative differences in the nature and extent of explanation use between novices and experienced professionals. These results offer new insights to why explanations are useful and important, what factors influence explanation use, and what information should be included in explanations.
ISSN:0742-1222
1557-928X
DOI:10.1080/07421222.2000.11045646