DEVELOPMENT OF KNOWLEDGE BASES AND THE RELIABILITY OF A DECISION-SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR BEHAVIORAL TREATMENT CONSULTATION FOR PERSONS WITH MENTAL-RETARDATION - THE MENTAL RETARDATION-EXPERT

The development of expert and decision support systems requires the co llection, organization, codification, and storage of a body of special ized knowledge. The development, using reconstructive methods, of two such knowledge bases, the first containing the current scientific lite rature and the second containing an expert's knowledge, is described f or an automated decision support system, the Mental Retardation-Expert . This system provides practitioners with assistance in the treatment of aggressive, self-injurious, and destructive behaviors displayed by individuals with mental retardation or developmental disabilities. The average interobserver reliability of the expert knowledge base ranged from 92.5% to 95.0% when calculated across four clinicians' assessmen ts of 31 abstracted cases.