The development of a knowledge-based system supporting the diagnosis of reading and spelling problems (II)

In an earlier paper [ Van Aarle & Van den Bercken (1992). The development of a knowledge-based system for supporting the diagnosis of reading and spelling problems. Computers in Human Behavior, 8, 183–201] a decision-support system for diagnosing elementary reading and spelling problems (CONDALS) was introduced. The system is meant to assist diagnosticians in processing diagnostic information in a methodical way. It is designed to embody a number of guidelines incorporated in a prescriptive framework for diagnostic decision making, the so-called Diagnostic Cycle. The construction of the interface, which entailed our first knowledge aquisition study, was described in the previous paper. The present paper reports on further research activities needed to construct the system. It primarily reports the results of a knowledge acquisition study in which almost all Dutch experts familiar with the current scientific literature and clinical practice participated. The study resulted in a reliable knowledge base of highly agreed upon diagnostic hypotheses, all relating one or more symptoms of reading and spelling problems to one or more factors currently considered to embody the best explanatory power for these symptoms.