Model of the acquisition of menu knowledge by exploration

Abstract

This paper reports a mechanism that learns how to use a menu structure by exploration. The model, called Ayn, starts without any knowledge of the menus but when given a goal, explores and tires out options until the goal has been achieved. During this process it constructs a long-term, recognition-oriented, memory of its behavior so that on future occasions it will be able to achieve the same goal without exploration. The mechanism captures three aspects of human behavior; it learns whilst interacting with the device, it speeds up with practice, and it acquires display-based knowledge.