Structured development of problem solving methods

Problem solving methods (PSMs) describe the reasoning components of knowled ge-based systems as patterns of behavior that can be reused across applicat ions, While the availability of extensive problem solving method libraries and the emerging consensus on problem solving method specification language s indicate the maturity of the field, a number of important research issues are still open. In particular, very little progress has been achieved on f oundational and methodological issues. Hence, despite the number of librari es which have been developed, it is still not clear what organization princ iples should be adopted to construct truly comprehensive libraries, coverin g large numbers of applications and encompassing both task-specific and tas k-independent problem solving methods. In this paper, we address these "fun damental" issues and present a comprehensive and detailed framework for cha racterizing problem solving methods and their development process. In parti cular, we suggest that PSM development consists of introducing assumptions and commitments along a three-dimensional space defined in terms of problem -solving strategy, task commitments, and domain (knowledge) assumptions. In dividual moves through this space can be formally described by means of ada pters. In the paper, we illustrate our approach and argue that our architec ture provides answers to three fundamental problems related to research in problem solving methods: 1) what is the epistemological structure and what are the modeling primitives of PSMs? 2) how can we model the PSM developmen t process? and 3) how can we develop and organize truly comprehensive and m anageable libraries of problem solving methods?