Schank

Schank is a surname of German origin. The name has been borne by several individuals notable in academia and industry, most prominently Roger C. Schank, an American cognitive scientist and artificial intelligence researcher.

Schank is best known for his work on narrative cognition and memory, including script theory, which posits that much human understanding and memory are organized around stereotyped sequences of events, or scripts, such as going to a restaurant or attending a lecture. He also contributed to dynamic memory theory and the development of conceptually memory-based approaches to reasoning and learning, which influenced early work in artificial intelligence and education technology. In the 1980s and 1990s, Schank participated in or founded ventures and research initiatives focused on storytelling, natural language processing, and learning technologies. His publications span AI, education, and the role of narratives in learning, with works such as Dynamic Memory and Tell Me a Story.

Schank’s ideas helped shape a view of cognition and language understanding that emphasizes experience and narrative structure as foundational to learning and reasoning, offering an alternative to approaches that rely solely on abstract symbolic manipulation. The surname Schank, therefore, is most closely associated in contemporary discussions with Roger C. Schank and his impact on cognitive science and AI research.