A Cognitive Model of Argumentation

In order to argue effectively one must have a grasp of both the normative strength of the inferences that come into play and the effect that the proposed inferences will have on the audience. In this paper we describe a program, NAG (Nice Argument Generator), that attempts to generate arguments that are both persuasive and correct. To do so NAG incorporates two models: a normative model, for judging the normative correctness of an argument, and a user model, for judging the persuasive effect of the same argument upon the user. The user model incorporates some of the common errors humans make when reasoning. In order to limit the scope of its reasoning during argument evaluation and generation NAG explicitly simulates attentional processes in both the user and the normative models.