The Vestibular Domain

Although not all researchers agree on the exact bounds of scientific discovery, theory formation is clearly at the core of the domain. Relevant AI research done in scientific discovery includes Kocabas (1992); Karp (1989); Prager, Belanger, and De Mori (1989); Kulkarni and Simon (1988); and Langley et al. (1987). I consider model-based discovery to be a diagnosis and design problem. More precisely, modelbased-theory refinement can be seen as a four-step process: (1) gather data, (2) compare the data to model-based predictions, (3) identify the sources of discrepancies between the predictions and the field data, and (4) fix these discrepancies by modifying the model. The first three steps are traditionally addressed by diagnosis systems, but the fourth step requires design techniques.