explanation - A structure, act, or process that provides understanding.
Furnishing explanations is one of the most important activities in high level cognition. The nature of explanation and its role in thinking have been addressed by philosophers, psychologists, and artificial intelligence researchers. Inference to the best explanation can be understood in terms of maximizing coherence among competing hypotheses and evidence.
Chi, M. T. H., Bassok, M., Lewis, M. W., Reimann, P., & Glaser, R. (1989). Self-explanations: How students study and use examples in learning to solve problems. Cognitive Science, 13, 145-182.
Harman, G. (1986). Change in view: Principles of reasoning. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press/Bradford Books. [bookstore]
Kitcher, P., & Salmon, W. (1989). Scientific explanation. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. [bookstore]
Leake, D. B. (1992). Evaluating explanations: A content theory. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. [bookstore]
Mitchell, T., Keller, R., & Kedar-Cabelli, S. (1986). Explanation-based generalization: A unifying view. Machine Learning, 1, 47-80.
Schank, R. C. (1986). Explanation patterns: Understanding mechanically and creatively. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. [bookstore]
Thagard, P. (1992). Conceptual revolutions. Princeton: Princeton University Press. [bookstore]
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