Script theory is a psychological theory that posits that most human behaviour falls into patterns known as "scripts" because they function similarly to a written script by supplying an action program.

Silvan Tomkins developed script theory to further develop his affect theory, which considers human beings' emotional responses to stimuli to fall into categories called "affects." He noted that the biological response of effect can be followed by consciousness and cognitive action on that consequence, signalling that more was needed to explain "human being theory."

Unit of analysis

A "scene" is the basic unit of analysis in script theory, described as a sequence of events linked by the effects elicited during the experience of those occurrences. Tomkins recognized that their affective experiences fall into patterns that we can group by criteria like the types of people and places involved and the intensity of the effect felt. These patterns form scripts that guide their behaviour to maximize positive affect and minimize negative affect.

Procedural knowledge

In their pioneering work on artificial intelligence, Roger Schank, Robert P. Abelson, and their team expanded Tomkins' scripts to express procedural knowledge. They use a structure called scripts, similar to a frame, but require sequentially entered values. A script is a scripted portrayal of a standard, predetermined order of occurrences. In natural-language understanding systems, scripts are used to structure a knowledge base according to the scenarios the system should be able to comprehend.

Example

The classic example of a script is the routine actions of a customer at a bar or restaurant, such as selecting a table, perusing the menu, placing an order, and waiting for the beverages to arrive. These would be broken down into MTRANS (which stands for "mental transitions," or "transitions of information") and PTRANS (which stands for "physical transitions," or "transitions of things") in the script form.

Challenges

Even though Schank, Abelson, and their colleagues attempted to solve some of artificial intelligence's most formidable challenges (such as story understanding), they were ultimately unsuccessful. After the 1980s, researchers stopped paying much attention to this field, but its contributions were crucial to developing later knowledge representation methods like case-based reasoning. Scripts can limit creativity. Memory organization packets (MOPs) are smaller modules that can be merged to address inflexibility.

Principles

• An object is conceptualized when an action is taken toward it.
• All ideas can be broken down into a handful of fundamental behaviours.
• We remember everything in discrete episodes that follow rigid scripts.
• Scripts enhance individuals' ability to infer meaning from verbal and written discourse.
• Goals and plans raise the bar for what is possible.

Application

Script theory seeks to explain how the brain processes language and higher-level reasoning. Several software applications demonstrate the idea. Schank's (1991) theoretical framework is utilized in the realms of narrative and the creation of smart tutors. Shank & Cleary (1995) detail how these concepts can be implemented in instructional programs.

Conclusion

Among the many ways that AI represents information is through script. A script has four main sections: preconditions, tracks, properties, characters, actions, and outputs. The script can model AI expertise in areas like game development. Despite providing extensive game display components, script representation is rarely used in game creation.

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