Editing Case-based reasoning (section)

{{Short description|Process of solving new problems based on the solutions of similar past problems}}
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'''Case-based reasoning''' ('''CBR'''), broadly construed, is the process of solving new problems based on the solutions of similar past problems.<ref>Kolodner, Janet L. [https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=b6049346827604bbf2204fc6401e94d71d6da31e "An introduction to case-based reasoning."] Artificial intelligence review 6.1 (1992): 3-34.</ref><ref>Weir, B. S. (1988). Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Quantitative Genetics (p. 537). Sinauer Associates.

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In everyday life, an auto [[mechanic]] who fixes an [[engine]] by recalling another [[automobile|car]] that exhibited similar symptoms is using case-based reasoning. A [[lawyer]] who advocates a particular outcome in a [[trial (law)|trial]] based on [[legal]] [[precedent]]s or a judge who creates [[case law]] is using case-based reasoning. So, too, an [[engineer]] copying working elements of nature (practicing [[biomimicry]]) is treating nature as a database of solutions to problems. Case-based reasoning is a prominent type of [[analogy]] solution making.

It has been argued{{By whom|date=December 2021}} that case-based reasoning is not only a powerful method for [[computer reasoning]], but also a pervasive behavior in everyday human [[problem solving]]; or, more radically, that all reasoning is based on past cases personally experienced. This view is related to [[prototype theory]], which is most deeply explored in [[cognitive science]].