Eliciting embedded meanings in building expert systems under uncertainty

A knowledge acquisition method EMCUD which can elicit embedded meanings from the initial knowledge provided by domain experts, is proposed. EMCUD also helps experts to decide uncertainties of the embedded meanings according to the relationships between the embedded meanings and the initial knowledge. The strategy of EMCUD can be easily applied to repertory grid-oriented methods or systems to enhance the knowledge of the initial prototype. A realistic example is presented to show how EMCUD enriches the knowledge base constructed by a repertory grid-oriented method and hence eases the refinement processes