The use of the typed lambda calculus for guiding naive users in the representation and acquisition of part-whole knowledge

Abstract

We address the task of enabling naive users in a practical context to define, comprehend and use knowledge bases for representing part-whole information. This work is part of a larger effort whose target users were ecologists who had little experience in mathematics, computing, and artificial intelligence, but who wished to build computer simulation models of ecological systems. The ecological domain has a rich variety of part-whole information. This includes individuals, populations and sub-populations, as well as composite entities. We note the special requirements deriving from the need to satisfy naive users and show how various existing approaches are insufficient. We describe a novel representation, based on the typed lambda calculus which covers the above range of part-whole relationships in a flexible, uniform framework. We emphasise the role of the typed lambda calculus in particular, and more generally, how a careful description of the ontology founding our representation can be used to guide users in creating accurate, transparent knowledge bases, which in turn facilitates reuse and sharing.