Report 79-25 Schema-Shift Strategies to Understanding

This report presents BAOBAB-2, a computer program built upon MYCIN [Shortliffe, 1974] that Is used for understanding medical summaries describing the status of patients. Due both to the conventional way physicians present medical problems In these summaries and the constrained nature of medical jargon, these texts have a very strong structure. BAOBAB-2 takes advantage of this structure by using a model of this organization as a set of related schemes that facilitate the Interpretation of these texts. Structures of the schemes and their relation to the surface structure are described. Issues relating to selection and use of these schemes by the program during interpretation of the summaries are discussed.