Modeling in the Context of Computer Science - a Methodological Approach

• Authors: Paweł Stacewicz , André Włodarczyk
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The article deals with computer science models (CSMd), that is, formal constructions which are described theoretically in the language of computer science (the language of algorithms and data structures), and which can therefore, be implemented in the form of applications and activated on a computer. After distinguishing different kinds of CSMd (e.g. theoretical and real) and presenting some examples of CSMd (especially in the field of mental phenomena) we discuss in detail the modeling procedure. This procedure can be initiated by a metaphor (understood as an initial, informal image of a studied phenomenon), has a cyclical and open character, and – according to our methodological reconstruction – consists of four stages: abstraction, formalization, simplification and verification. We discuss these stages in the context of computer science, referring to four elements: the studied domain, a meta-theory (always formal), the constructed theory of the studied domain (formalized in the language of meta-theory), and the constructed model (always temporary). We present a simplified scheme of the whole procedure and identify three cycles of the modeling loop: small, proper and wide. Finally we claim that contemporary CSMd (especially computer science models of the mind) should be constructed using artificial intelligence tools, such as machine learning and data mining techniques.

• Publisher: Sciendo
• Journal: Studies in Logic, Grammar and Rhetoric
• Year: 2010
• Issue: 20(33)
• Pages: 155-179

Contributors

author

Paweł Stacewicz

• Warsaw University of Technology, Faculty of Mathematics and Information Science

author

André Włodarczyk

• Université Paris-Sorbonne (CELTA)