Procédéres

Procédéres is a theoretical construct in cognitive science and artificial intelligence that describes discrete units of procedural knowledge used to model how agents perform tasks. A procédére encodes an action, the contextual conditions under which the action is appropriate, and the rule that governs the transition to the next unit.

Procedural models are built by connecting procédéres into sequences, branches, or recursive structures. A procédére is considered a minimal and reusable unit; complex behavior emerges from composing many procédéres. Classifications include simple procédéres (single action), conditional procédéres (based on state), recursive procédéres (self-referential loops), and metaprocédéres (procedures about procedures).

Origin and usage: The term emerged in Francophone cognitive science literature in the 2010s as a formalization of procedural knowledge, and has since been adopted in AI planning, robotics, and processing of procedural text.

Applications and evaluation: In robotics and automation, procédéres support modular action planning and troubleshooting. In natural language processing, they help parse and generate procedural text. In education, they serve as models of how learners acquire sequences of skills. Critics note overlap with established concepts such as procedures, protocols, and scripts, and call for clearer ontologies and benchmarks for interoperability.

See also: Procedure, Process, Protocol, Script, Workflow.