CONNECTIONIST APPROACHES TO INEXACT REASONING AND LEARNING-SYSTEMS FOR EXECUTIVE AND DECISION-SUPPORT - CONCEPTUAL DESIGN

Connectionist approaches to the representation and reasoning about pro blems addressed by executive and decision support systems are describe d. It is shown that analog object structures coupled with learning pro duce mechanisms for managerial problem diagnoses. These mechanisms are neural models with multiple-layer structures that support continuous input/output. Because a connectionist architecture is assumed, the pro totype system is called the Connectionist Inexact Reasoning System or CIROS. Although uncharacteristic of neural architectures, an explanati on capability is developed within CIROS and described herein. The prim ary contribution of CIROS is that it provides principles for design of inexact reasoning systems for managerial problem diagnosis.