Plans and resource-bounded practical reasoning

An architecture for a rational agent must allow for means-end reasoning, for the weighing of competing alternatives, and for interactions betwen these two forms of reasoning. Such an architecture must also address the problem of resource boundedness. We sketch a solution of the first problem that points the way to a solution of the second. In particular, we present a high-level specification of the practical-reasoning component of an architecture for a resource-bounded rational agent. In this architecture, a major role of the agent's plans is to constrain the amount of further practical reasoning she must perform.