A Constraint Propagation Approach to Probabilistic Reasoning

Judea Pearl Computer Science Department, Univenity of California, Loa Angelea The paper demonstrates that strict adherence to probability theory does not preclude the use of concurrent, self-activated constraint-propagation mechanisms for managing uncer tainty. Maintaining local records of sources-of-belief allows both predictive and diagnostic inferences to be activated simultanously and propagate harmoniously towards a stable equillibrium.