---
title: "The Declarative Representation and Procedural Simulation of Causality in Physical Mechanisms"
authors:
  - "Chuck Rieger"
  - "Maurice Grinberg"
doi: ""
url: "https://ijcai.org/proceedings/1977/55"
pdf: "https://ijcai.org/proceedings/1977/0055.pdf"
venue: "Proceedings of the Fifth International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence"
year: 1977
pages: "250-255"
track: "Representation of Knowledge"
keywords:
---

# The Declarative Representation and Procedural Simulation of Causality in Physical Mechanisms

Chuck Rieger, Maurice Grinberg

*Proceedings of the Fifth International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence*, pages 250-255.

## Abstract

A theory of cause - effect representation is used to describe man-made mechanisms and natural laws . The representation, consisting of 10 link types that interconnect events into large declarative patterns, is illustrated on a relatively sophisticated device, the home gas forced air furnace . Next, a procedure and framework for translating the declarative description of a mechanism into a population of associatively triggerable computation units is described . The associative, or procedural, form can then be used to perform a discrete cause-effect aimulation of the device. The delcarative to procedural translation, including a simulation trace, is shown for the furnace. Topics of nechanista abstraction and mechanism inven!iion are discussed, and the entire "Mechanisms Laboratory' is placed in tne larger perspective of our research into human problem solving.