AN EXPECTATION-DRIVEN RESPONSE UNDERSTANDING PARADIGM

This paper describes a model that can account for ad hoc user-response s to argument interrogative type of system-initiated questions. Succes sful implementation of the model can provide an alternative solution t hat is more effective than the menu-driven approach that has been prop osed as a meager solution to enable the system to ask a question to th e user. The proposed model assumes that when the system asks a questio n, it maintains an expectation of the potential answers. The system th en uses the expectation as the focus to perform the most likely interp retation of the user's response. Without using such a focus the interp retation process could be unbounded. The interpretation process is map ped into a heuristic search problem. 'rhe interpretation process resul ts in identifying a particular expectation-response relationship type, which the system can use to tailor its response strategy with respect to the given user-response. A prototype has been constructed to demon strate the soundness of the proposed model.