Putting Similarity Assessments into Context: Matching Functions with the User's Intended Operations

This paper presents a practical application of context for the evaluation of semantic similarity. The work is based on a new model for the assessment of semantic similarity among entity classes that satisfies cognitive properties of similarity and integrates contextual information. The semantic similarity model represents entity classes by their semantic relations (is-a and part-whole) and their distinguishing features (parts, functions, and attributes). Context describes the domain of an application that is determined by the user's intended operations. Contextual information is specified by a set of tuples over operations associated with their respective entity-class arguments. Based on the contextual information, a partial word-sense disambiguation can be achieved and the relevance of distinguishing features for the similarity assessment is calculated in terms of the features' contribution to the characterization of the application domain.

[1]  Michel Dojat,et al.  Three Compatible Mechanisms for Representing Medical Context Implicitly , 1995 .

[2]  Athman Bouguettaya,et al.  Interconnecting Heterogeneous Information Systems , 1998, The Springer International Series on Advances in Database Systems.

[3]  Kathleen Dahlgren,et al.  Naive semantics for natural language understanding , 1988 .

[4]  E. Rosch,et al.  Family resemblances: Studies in the internal structure of categories , 1975, Cognitive Psychology.

[5]  George A. Miller,et al.  Nouns in WordNet: A Lexical Inheritance System , 1990 .

[6]  David M. Mark,et al.  Naive Geography , 1995, COSIT.

[7]  Christiane Fellbaum,et al.  Combining Local Context and Wordnet Similarity for Word Sense Identification , 1998 .

[8]  G. Miller,et al.  Contextual correlates of semantic similarity , 1991 .

[9]  Y. A. Bishr,et al.  Semantic aspects of interoperable GIS , 1997 .

[10]  Allen Ginsberg,et al.  A unified approach to automatic indexing and information retrieval , 1993, IEEE Expert.

[11]  ShethAmit,et al.  Semantic and schematic similarities between database objects: a context-based approach , 1996, VLDB 1996.

[12]  Amit P. Sheth,et al.  Data Semantics: What, Where, and How? , 1995 .

[13]  Max J. Egenhofer,et al.  Asessing Semnatic Similarities among Geospatial Feature Class Definitions , 1999, INTEROP.

[14]  George A. Miller,et al.  Introduction to WordNet: An On-line Lexical Database , 1990 .

[15]  Christiane Fellbaum,et al.  Using Wordnet for Text Retrieval , 1998 .

[16]  Roy M. Turner,et al.  Context-mediated behavior for intelligent agents , 1998, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud..

[17]  E. Rosch.  ON THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF PERCEPTUAL AND SEMANTIC CATEGORIES1 , 1973 .

[18]  Douglas Herrmann,et al.  A Taxonomy of Part-Whole Relations , 1987, Cogn. Sci..

[19]  Christiane Fellbaum,et al.  English Verbs as a Semantic Net , 1990 .

[20]  Martha Alice Hearst.  Context and structure in automated full-text information access , 1994 .

[21]  G. Miller,et al.  A Semantic Network of English Verbs , 1998 .

[22]  Diane C. P. Smith,et al.  Database abstractions: aggregation and generalization , 1977, TODS.

[23]  Myoung-Ho Kim,et al.  Information Retrieval Based on Conceptual Distance in is-a Hierarchies , 1993, J. Documentation.

[24]  A. Tversky.  Features of Similarity , 1977 .

[25]  Varol Akman,et al.  Steps Toward Formalizing Context , 1996, AI Mag..

[26]  Max J. Egenhofer,et al.  Advances in Spatial Databases , 1997, Lecture Notes in Computer Science.

[27]  M. Ross Quillian,et al.  Retrieval time from semantic memory , 1969 .

[28]  Christiane Fellbaum,et al.  Book Reviews: WordNet: An Electronic Lexical Database , 1999, CL.

[29]  F. Moore.  Cognitive development and the acquisition of language , 1973 .

[30]  Robert L. Goldstone,et al.  Similarity in context , 1997, Memory & cognition.

[31]  Patrick J. Hayes,et al.  Naive physics I: ontology for liquids , 1989 .

[32]  John McCarthy,et al.  Generality in artificial intelligence , 1987, Resonance.

[33]  Geoffrey Leech,et al.  Semantics: The Study of Meaning , 1974 .

[34]  Johan de Kleer,et al.  Readings in qualitative reasoning about physical systems , 1990 .

[35]  David Yarowsky,et al.  A method for disambiguating word senses in a large corpus , 1992, Comput. Humanit..