---
title: "HPM: A Computational Formalism for Heuristic Procedure Modification"
authors:
  - "Robert Neches"
doi: ""
url: "https://ijcai.org/proceedings/1981/57"
pdf: "https://ijcai.org/proceedings/1981/0057.pdf"
venue: "Proceedings of the Seventh International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence"
year: 1981
pages: "283-287"
track: "Nowledge Representation"
keywords:
---

# HPM: A Computational Formalism for Heuristic Procedure Modification

Robert Neches

*Proceedings of the Seventh International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence*, pages 283-287.

## Abstract

The HPM (Heuristic Procedure Modification) system is a model of strategy learning and optimization, implemented as a processing environment within the PRISM production system package (4] . This paper describes progress in getting HPM to emulate children's discoveries about basic addition procedures. HPM 's goal-trace and production -trace formalisms allow it to maintain a history of its actions which is both goal-ordered and time -ordered . Heuristics about meaningful patterns in these traces guide the construction of new productions, which modify procedures by replacing or circumventing pre -existing productions.