Authors: Gove N. Allen, Salvatore T. March
Tags: 2010, bunges ontology, cognition, ontological overload
The theory of ontological expressiveness posits that ontology can be used to predict the effects of conceptual modeling grammars on human performance in conceptual modeling tasks based on the degree of difference between the constructs of the ontology and those of the grammar. A specific prediction is that overloading multiple ontological constructs onto a single conceptual modeling construct will negatively impact human performance. The ontology most widely adopted in studies of ontological expressiveness is that of Mario Bunge. Using this ontology, we test the effects of construct overload on users’ ability to accurately complete a series of problem-solving tasks. We find that after controlling for subject’s varying levels of comprehension of modeling language constructs, construct overload has no predictive power. We argue that construct overload may be viewed as a simple abstraction mechanism, multiple constructs in an ontology being abstracted to a single construct in the conceptual modeling grammar. Abstraction is a commonly used mechanism in managing complexity and in human memory structures that may, in fact, result in improved rather than degraded human performance in understanding conceptual representations of complex domains.
Cite as:
March S.T. and Allen G.N. (2010). “A Test of the Cognitive Effects of Ontological Construct Overload,” in AIS SIGSAND, St. John’s, NL, Canada, May 29-30, 2010.
