Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society

For a case-based reasoner to use its knowledge flexibly, it must be equipped with a powerful case adapter. A case-based reasoner can only cope with variation in the form of the problems it is given to the extent that its cases in memory can be efficiently adapted to fit a wide range of new situations. In this paper, we address the task of adapting abstract knowledge about planning to fit specific planning situations. First we show that adapting abstract cases requires reconciling incommensurate representations of planning situations. Next, we describe a representation system, a memory organization, and an adaptation process tailored to this requirement. Our approach b implemented in BRAINSTORMER, a planner that takes abstract advice.