Abstract
In this paper, we analyze systematically the downward (property flow) and the upward (individual flow) views of inheritance for different categories of inheritance networks. We observe that both these views assign the same meaning to tree-structured hierarchies, and explain the divergence in the interpretation of more general networks in terms of their expressive power. This simple analysis sheds light on the inherent nature of nonmonotonic inheritance and can form the basis for the design of efficient algorithms for certain classes of queries. In addition, we describe the notion of preferential inheritance to specify additional conflict resolution information that can be integrated smoothly with the upward view of inheritance.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.References
H. Geffner, Default reasoning: Causal and conditional theories, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of California at Los Angeles (1989).
J. Horty, R. Thomason and D. Touretzky, A skeptical theory of inheritance in nonmonotonic semantic networks, Artificial Intelligence 42(1990)311–348.
J. Horty, A credulous theory of mixed inheritance, in:Inheritance Hierarchies in Knowledge Representation and Programming Languages, eds. M. Lenzerini et al. (Wiley, 1991).
B. Meyer,Object-Oriented Software Construction (Prentice-Hall, 1988).
K. Thirunarayan and M. Kifer, A theory of nonmonotonic inheritance based on annotated logic, Artificial Intelligence 60(1993)23–50.
K. Thirunarayan, An analysis of property-flow view vs. individual-flow view of inheritance,Proc. 6th Int. Symp. on Methodologies for Intelligent Systems (1991) pp. 256–265.
T. Krishnaprasad, M. Kifer and D.S. Warren, On the declarative semantics of inheritance networks,Proc. 11th Int. Joint Conf. on Artificial Intelligence (1989) pp. 1093–1098.
T. Krishnaprasad, The semantics of inheritance networks, Ph.D. Dissertation, State University of New York at Stony Brook (1989).
H. Przymusinska and M. Gelfond, Inheritance hierarchies and autoepistemic logic, Technical Report, Computer Science Department, University of Texas at El Paso (1989).
E. Sandewall, Nonmonotonic inference rules for multiple inheritance with exceptions, Proc. IEEE 74(1986)1345–1353.
B. Selman and H.J. Levesque, The tractability of path-based inheritance,Proc. 11th Int. Joint Conf. on Artificial Intelligence (1989) pp. 1140–1145.
M. Stefik and D.G. Bobrow, Object-oriented programming: Themes and variations, AI Magazine (1986) 40–62.
L.A. Stein, Resolving ambiguity in nonmonotonic inheritance hierarchies, Artificial Intelligence 55(1992)259–310.
R. Thomason and J. Horty, Logics for inheritance theory,Non-Monotonic Reasoning, eds. M. Reinfrank et al. (Springer, 1989).
D. Touretzky,The Mathematics of Inheritance Systems (Morgan Kaufmann, Los Altos, 1986).
D. Touretzky, J. Horty and R. Thomason, A clash of intuitions: The current state of nonmonotonic multiple inheritance systems,Proc. 10th Int. Joint Conf. on Artificial Intelligence (1987) pp. 476–482.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This research was supported in part by NSF grant IRI-9009587.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Thirunarayan, K. On the equivalence of upward and downward inheritance reasoners. Ann Math Artif Intell 15, 239–256 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01534457
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01534457