Annotated Production Systems: A Model for Skill Acquisition

Abstract

Annotated Production Systems provide a procedural model for skill acquisition by augmenting a production model of the skill with formal commentary describing plans, bugs, and interraltionships between various productions. This commentary supports processes of efficient interpretation, self-debugging and self-improvement. The theory of annotated productions is developed by analyzing the skill of attitude instrument flying. An annotated production interpreter has been written that executes skill models which control a flight simulator. Preliminary evidence indicates that annotated productions effectively model certain bugs and certain learning behaviors characteristic of student pilots.