The role of previous questions and answers in natural language dialogues with computers
Andrew S. Patrick, Wendy Jacques-Locmelis, Thomas E. Whalen · International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction · 1993
An important factor for determining the success of any natural language program is the variability in the users' questions that must be handled by the system. Thus, it is important to find methods of measuring and handling this variability. In this article we examine the tendency for subjects to use the topics and terms introduced in the computer's answers in forming their questions. It is shown that the last and next‐to‐last answers have a strong effect on the questions users ask. It is also shown that although users often do ask questions that are related to their previous questions, the most frequent case is for users to introduce new questions related to the computer's answers. Thus, the effect of the computer's answers is stronger than the effect of users' own questions when forming new questions. Finally, it is shown that the accuracy of the computer's responses in answering the questions has important effects on the tendency to use previous questions and answers. These results suggest that natural language systems that take advantage of these features of human‐computer interaction may be successful.