Modelling the cognitive architecture
D. Roy Davies, Gerald Matthews, Rob B. Stammers, Steve J. Westerman · Human Performance · 2013
The purpose of modelling is not just to explain isolated pieces of data, but to discover general principles of the organisation of cognitive processes and, ultimately, a detailed description of the complete processing system. In this chapter, we outline principles of modelling, and discuss some of the organisational issues which models address. We begin with an account of methods for investigating cognition (section 2.1); then in 2.2, we discuss the components used to construct models of the internal programming, and ways in which these components may be “connected up” to control the flow of processing. Section 2.3 develops the theme of control of processing further, by describing parallel processing models in which there is no separate processor for handling control. In performance psychology, it is important to determine not just the formal logical structure of the internal software, but the constraints on its successful operation. As with computers, the functioning of software may be limited by the processing capacity and facilities provided by Performance psychology is built on the foundation provided by theories of cognition and information processing. In this section of the book, we look at the explanations for performance which cognitive theory provides. One of the peculiarities of cognitive psychology is that it is a science of the unobservable. We can never directly read off the internal symbols or program steps of the mind in the way we can read the lines of a computer program. Hence, “explanation” in cognitive psychology is closely related to the development of models of cognition. The basic technique of cognitive psychology is to construct a model of the cognitive activities that supports performance on a given task or family of similar tasks. The model resembles a computer program in that it specifies in detail how information is processed. It must include a description of how cognitive processes, that cannot be directly observed, influence measurable performance variables such as reaction time and frequency of the hardware. In 2.4 we consider the problem of limited capacity, and the related issue of whether processing requires some kind of “energisation” to operate. In the final sections of this chapter we develop the point made in 1.3, that informationprocessing models may be necessary but insufficient to explain the full range of influences on performance, such as stress factors. Sometimes, we must accommodate the person’s goals and intentions as influences: section 2.5 looks at how we can model voluntary control of performance and strategy. Section 2.6 briefly addresses questions relating to the neural hardware level by looking at some of the principles of cognitive neuropsychology and cognitive psychophysiology.