Method and apparatus/software to assist persons in complex cause-and-effect reasoning
First Claim
1. A method of developing a cause and effect model, the method comprising the steps of:
- a) specifying primary events, b) characterizing each primary event as either a controllable or an assumption, c) specifying secondary events, d) providing a plurality of primitive cause and effect relation between at least a subset of the events, e) representing the plurality of primitive cause and effect relations by a system of simultaneous Boolean equations having Boolean expressions stated in one implementation in canonical disjunctive form, f) solving the Boolean equations to express the existence or non-existence of every secondary event in terms of the existence or non-existence of the primary events.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method has been developed for generating, refining and determining the consequences of complex systems of multiple cause and effect relationships. The novel method is applicable to biological systems as well as man-made systems, as it is based on the collecting and using observed behaviors as well as previous understood mechanism or relationships. The method is particularly useful in multi-variable system with significant interactions among sub-components, especially when there is limited expertise or complete understanding of all the components and their respective relationships interactions. In these cases the method provides guidance for future experiments that develop further expertise. The method has particular power and benefit as it provides for a distinction and comparison of the merits of conducting further experiments based on defined criteria. For example alternative solutions or experiments can be suggested and distinguished on the basis of cost, delay or a negative or detrimental outcome, based on prior experience and knowledge of interactions, in contrast to those that provide additional insight or solve the problem with a lower risk of negative implications.
25 Citations
39 Claims
-
1. A method of developing a cause and effect model, the method comprising the steps of:
-
a) specifying primary events, b) characterizing each primary event as either a controllable or an assumption, c) specifying secondary events, d) providing a plurality of primitive cause and effect relation between at least a subset of the events, e) representing the plurality of primitive cause and effect relations by a system of simultaneous Boolean equations having Boolean expressions stated in one implementation in canonical disjunctive form, f) solving the Boolean equations to express the existence or non-existence of every secondary event in terms of the existence or non-existence of the primary events. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 38)
-
-
4. A method of using a cause and effect model wherein a plurality of primitive cause and effect relations between primary and secondary events are represented by a system of simultaneous Boolean equations, the method comprising:
-
a) selecting one or more secondary events as a goal, b) solving least a subset of one or more Boolean equations to state the secondary events in terms of primary events, c) providing the status of existence of one or more secondary events. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 39)
-
-
10. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon a data structure comprising:
-
a) a first data field containing data representing events, b) A second data field containing data representing terms, c) A third data field containing data representing causes, d) A first sub-data field of the first data field containing pointers to the first of a sequential subset of sub-data fields of the second data field, e) A first sub-data field of the second data field containing pointers to the first of a sequential subset of sub-data fields of the third data field corresponding to a term, which in turn points to the first of a sequential subset of sub-data fields corresponding to the term, f) A last pointer added to the end of the first sub-data field of the second data field that points to one position past the end of the first sub-data field of the third data field, g) A last pointer added to the end of the first sub-data field of the first data field that points to the last pointer that was added to the end of the first sub-data field of the second data field, h) a second sub-data field of the first data field containing data representing various information about the events such as but not limited to whether the events are primary, secondary, intermediate or observable, i) a third sub-data field of the first data field representing the relationship between each event and one or more of the other events, j) a third sub-data field of the first data field for characterizing the reordering of the events by the partitioning process, - View Dependent Claims (11, 12)
-
-
13. A set of application program interfaces embodied on a computer readable medium for execution on a computer in conjunction with an application program that develops a cause and effect model, the interfaces comprising:
-
a) a first interface that receives one or more primary events;
b) a second interface that the prompts for the characterization of each primary as either a controllable or assumption;
c) a third interface that receives secondary events;
d) a fourth interface that prompts for the characterization of the causal relationship of each primary event to any other secondary event;
e) a fifth interface that prompts for the characterization of the causal relationship of each secondary event to any other secondary event, f) a sixth interface that receives at least one instruction characterizing one or more secondary events as a goal. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
-
-
29. A computer readable medium having stored thereon software in the form of computer executable instructions, the instructions comprising:
-
a) a cause and effect model comprising a system of a plurality of simultaneous Boolean equations representing a plurality of primitive cause and effect relations between primary events and secondary events, b) means for selecting a combinations of primary causes, c) means to determine the consequent effects of a specified combination of primary causes on all secondary events. - View Dependent Claims (30)
-
-
31. A set of application program interfaces embodied on a computer readable medium for execution on a computer in conjunction with an application program that develops a cause and effect model, the interfaces comprising
a) a representation of the model using an outline to show: -
i) a first level to display Effects, ii) second level below the first level to display Terms, iii) a third a level below the second level to display Causes.
-
-
32. A set of application program interfaces embodied on a computer readable medium for execution on a computer in conjunction with an application program that develops a cause and effect model, the interfaces comprising:
a) means for inputting primitive cause and effect relations represented by a plurality of Boolean equations each composed of Boolean and'"'"'s and or'"'"'s to create a proposed cause and effect model. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35)
-
36. Software fixed on computer readable medium to provide computer executable instructions, the software comprising:
-
a) means to develop cause and effect hypotheses, b) means to determine the effects/consequences of these hypotheses, c) means to compare the fit of the effects/consequences to reality, d) means to trace the mechanism that produces consequences that do not fit reality, e) means to change the hypotheses.
-
-
37. Software fixed on computer readable medium to provide computer executable instructions, the software comprising:
-
a) means to develop cause and effect hypotheses for determining the likelihood of a target event as a plurality of terms representing causal relationships between primary and secondary events, b) means to assign probabilities to each term relating the satisfaction of that term to the existence of a target event, c) means to assign probabilities to each of the primary events set to exist so the probability of the existence of each event can be computed.
-
Specification