SHAKEN gpd 01040201

SHAKEN Properties and Values

Contents


Properties and Values

SHAKEN uses relations to link Entities and Events. Some knowledge, however, cannot be expressed in such terms. Properties such as 10-centimeters-long, very-quickly, purple, north-by-northwest, etc. are neither Entities, Events nor relations.

SHAKEN has a set of special property relations, listed in the Slot Dictionary under the headings Event-to-Value and Entity-to-Value. In a graph, property relations are arrows that go from an Event or Entity to a special kind of concept called a Value. Values are complex concepts that may consist of a number and a unit of measurement (e.g., <10, degreesCelsius>), or a relative value (e.g., <dense> compared to Gas), or simply a standalone value (e.g., <purple>).


Three concepts: MyDrink (with temperature 10°C), Water (which is dense compared to Gas), purple Gum.

SHAKEN currently has a limited ability to express and reason with such values, though more sophisticated reasoning is still beyond its grasp. For example, SHAKEN is unable to determine whether 50 centimeters should be considered long or short relative to some population of Entities, or whether 30 degreesFahrenheit is colder than 10 degressCelsius. And although SHAKEN knows that cool is colder than warm, it is not yet able to answer such questions.

Here is a list of the properties in SHAKEN and the nodes they link in a graph:

From nodepropertyTo node

EntityageAge-Value
EntityanimacyAnimacy-Value
Tangible-EntityareaArea-Value
Tangible-EntitybreakabilityBreakability-Value
Tangible-EntitybrightnessBrightness-Value
Tangible-EntitycapacityCapacity-Value
Tangible-EntitycolorColor-Value
Tangible-EntityconsistencyConsistency-Value
Tangible-EntitydensityDensity-Value
Tangible-EntitydepthDepth-Value
EventdirectionDirection-Value
EventdistanceDistance-Value
EventdurationDuration-Value
EventfrequencyFrequency-Value
Tangible-EntityheightHeight-Value
Tangible-EntityintegrityIntegrity-Value
Tangible-EntitylengthLength-Value
EventmannerManner-Value
Tangible-EntitymassMass-Value
Chemical-ObjectpHPH-Value
Chemical-ObjectpolarityPolarity-Value
EventrateRate-Value
OrganismsentienceSentience-Value
OrganismsexSex-Value
Tangible-EntityshapeShape-Value
Tangible-EntitysizeSize-Value
Tangible-EntitysmellSmell-Value
Tangible-EntitytasteTaste-Value
Tangible-EntitytemperatureTemperature-Value
Tangible-EntitytextureTexture-Value
Tangible-EntitythicknessThickness-Value
Tangible-EntityvolumeVolume-Value
Tangible-EntitywetnessWetness-Value
Tangible-EntitywidthWidth-Value


How to Encode Properties and Values

There are three main things you can do with property values when encoding knowledge:
  1. link a concept to a property value via a property arc
  2. add specific information about the property value
  3. encode information comparing two property values

Linking a Concept to a Property Value

Choose the property you wish to ascribe to a concept. Add the appropriate Property-Value node to the graph. For example, if you want to specify the temperature of an Entity, add a Temperature-Value concept to the graph; if you want to specify the rate of a process, add a Rate-Value concept to the graph. Then simply draw an arc from the Entity or Event to the Property-Value node. SHAKEN will present a short list of arc labels. Choose your property from the list.

Adding Specifics to a Property Value

To add specific information about a property value, click with the right mouse button on the green Property Value node. SHAKEN will present you with a menu of options. Choose the option "Edit Value...".

SHAKEN will present you with a window called "Properties Dialog". Click the "Add..." button to specify a new value. SHAKEN will present another window called simply "Properties". For each property, SHAKEN knows some units of measurement that make sense for values of that property. For example, for the temperature property, SHAKEN knows that Kelvin, Celsius and Fahrenheit are meaningful units of measurement.

If you choose one of these units of measurement in the "Property Value" menu, you will be expected to enter a number in the "Value" box.

When you have entered the value you want, click "Ok" in the "Properties" window and then "Ok" again in the "Properties Dialog" window. The value you entered will appear in the green node in the graph.

You can enter as many values as you want. And you can enter "relative" values in addition to numeric values. For example, having specified that your Ice concept is -4°C, you can also specify that it is cold compared to other Substances. In the "Properties" window, instead of choosing a unit of measurment in the "Property Value" menu, choose "Temperature Value".

Now instead of entering a numeric value, you can choose a relative value from the "Name" menu. Before choosing from the "Name" menu, click on the "Subclass..." button. Since you're entering a relative value, you must specify what kinds of things this value is relative to. For example, to specify that Ice is cold relative to Substances in general, type Substance in the window called "Choose a concept more special than Tangible-Entity".

Now choose "*cold Substance" from the "Name" menu in the "Properties" window to specify that your Ice is cold relative to Substances.

Again, click "Ok" in the "Properties" window and the "Properties Dialog" window. Both the numeric and relative property values now appear in the green node.

For now, SHAKEN isn't quite smart enough to make sure that the values you enter are consistent, so exercise some care in entering multiple values.

Comparing Property Values

SHAKEN allows you to enter knowledge comparing property values by linking one green Property-Value node to another. The legal relations between two Property-Value nodes are greater-than, less-than and same-as. For example, to encode the fact that the temperature of Ice is lower than the temperature of Water, simply draw an arc from Ice's Temperature-Value to Water's Temperature-Value, then choose the less-than relation from SHAKEN's menu of relations. (You may have to add a Temperature-Value to Water first).


Properties of Aggregates

Properties such as length and size refer to the physical dimensions of Entities. With
Aggregates we often use the term size to refer to the number of elements in the Aggregate. The term length is often used for the number of elements in a Sequence. SHAKEN has a special relation number-of-elements to encode the "size" of an Aggregate or the "length" of a Sequence. SHAKEN will compute the number-of-elements for a given Aggregate. Unfortunately, for now there is no way for the user to specify a value for the number-of-elements. That is, for now there is no way for the user to specify a Sequence of "length" 15 or a Crowd of 100 people.

There is a way to encode the fact that one Aggregate is bigger than another, or that one Sequence is longer than another. Use size or length, but don't add any specific values. Here is how to encode the fact that MySequence is longer than YourSequence.