A computational model of belief

We propose a logic of belief in which the expansion of beliefs beyond what has been explicitly learned is modeled as a finite computational process. The logic does not impose a particular computational mechanism; rather, the mechanism is a parameter of the logic, and we show that as long as the mechanism meets a particular set of constraints, the resulting logic has certain desirable properties. Chief among these is the property that one can reason soundly about another agent’s beliefs by simulating its computational mechanism with one’s own. We also give a detailed comparison of our model with Konolige’s deduction model, another model of belief in which the believer’s reasoning mechanism is a parameter.  2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.