User participation in knowledge update of expert systems

Abstract

Applying the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) of persuasion we conducted an experiment to examine the effect of participation of users in the design process on their acceptance of system recommendations and revision of their original decisions. Results of our study indicate that two different types of information processing occur when subjects are reviewing the expert system recommendations.

• (i) For users who have a high perceived level of participation in updating the knowledge of the ES, ambiguity of the decision setting is the primary determinant affecting acceptance of the recommendation from the ES.

• (ii) For users who have a low perceived level of participation in updating the knowledge of the ES, acceptance of system recommendation to revise their original judgment is dependent on the perceived credibility of the experts building the system.

We discuss the implications of these findings for the design of expert systems.