TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE COGNITIVE PROCESSES INVOLVED IN THE ATTAINMENT OF CONCEPTS BY HUMANS, A MODEL WAS DEVELOPED BY USE OF COMPUTER TECHNIQUES. THE MODEL WAS BASED UPON THEORETICAL GROUNDS, "THINK ALOUD" PROTOCOLS, AND SPECULATIONS ABOUT THE NATURE OF CONCEPT ATTAINMENT. IT WAS DEVELOPED WITH THREE MAJOR ASPECTS--(1) CONTEXTING FUNCTIONS…

This report describes several of the design decisions underlying ACT, a production system model of human cognition. ACT can be considered a high level computer programming language as well as a theory of the cognitive mechanisms underlying human information processing. ACT design decisions were based on both psychological and artificial…

Tree searching was applied as a computer model of simple addition sentences. Results indicated that the number of problem reductions performed in tree searching accounted for most of the variance across problems in student error rate and solution time. The technique constitutes a computer test for the adequacy of a problem solving prescription.…

IF COMPUTER PROGRAMS ARE TO SERVE AS USEFUL MODELS OF COGNITIVE BEHAVIOR, THEIR CREATORS MUST FACE THE NEED TO ESTABLISH AN INTERNAL ORGANIZATION FOR THEIR MODEL WHICH IMPLEMENTS THE HIGHER LEVEL COGNITIVE BEHAVIORS ASSOCIATED WITH THE HUMAN CAPACITY FOR SELF-DIRECTION, AUTOCRITICISM, AND ADAPTATION. PRESENT COMPUTER MODELS OF COGNITIVE BEHAVIOR…

Opening with a discussion of the role of computer simulation in cognitive psychology, this paper proceeds to examine the major perspectives on computer simulation as a tool for theoretical research on cognitive processes. The claim that computer simulation enforces rigor in theory specification is analyzed; the use of simulation as a method for…

The report documents performance on a 24-month R&D effort oriented toward the development of a computerized model for machine translation of natural languages. The model is built around a set of procedures called verbalization, intended to stimulate the processes employed by a speaker or writer in turning stored information into words.…

The primary task in solving a physics problem is to select ways of viewing the problem in terms of physical systems whose behavior is described by physical laws. The physical systems are, in general, only approximate models of the real-world systems. As models of real-world systems are made more accurate, the equations involved quickly become…

Different aspects of human-machine interaction are discussed in the five brief papers that comprise this report. The first paper, "Some Observations on Mental Models," discusses the role of a person's mental model in the interaction with systems. The second paper, "A Psychologist Views Human Processing: Human Errors and Other…

Reports investigation of the first phase of problem solving, i.e., the awareness of mental operations, which uses cognitive process instruction to focus student attention on their thinking processes. Evaluation of students' ability to recall componential operations involved in familiar tasks indicates improvement in problem solving is an…