CIS 607 - Seminar Cognitive Modeling

A research seminar by Prof. Anthony J. Hornof

Winter, 2011 - 2 Credits - CRN 27170
Fridays, noon - 1:20 PM
200 Deschutes

Prof. Hornof's office hours for the term will be Tuesdays and Thursdays 2:30 - 3:30 PM, or by appointment.

Overview

This research seminar will advance an understanding of (a) human performance when engaged in multitasking behavior such as operating a navigation system while driving and (b) how to simulate and ultimately predict human performance in such situations by means of computational cognitive modeling, ultimately to inform the design of multimodal watchstations. Computational cognitive models are computer programs that behave in some way like humans. Scientific and technical objectives include developing of these computational cognitive models, and advancing a framework for future development of these models which simulate parallel visual-perceptual and auditory-perceptual processing in multitasking situations.

This class relates to Dr. Hornof's research on Multimodal Multitasking.

Evaluation

Each student will pass this course if he or she attends all sessions and submits each week's homework at the start of class. A student will not pass the course if four classes or homeworks are missed. Medical and approved-in-advance absences are not penalized.

Weekly Homework

Unless otherwise specified, your weekly homework is to actively read each week's paper(s) or chapter(s), taking notes on and responding to what you are reading. This is a great practice to develop as a reseacher. You can take your notes in whatever structure and format feels best to you, and your notes can be handwritten or typed, but each summary should include:

Here two good examples: Carswell (1992) and Dourish (2006). Note that they are each very different, but that both satisfy all of the above criteria.

Readings (Tentative)

Week One (1/7/11):
No reading assignment.

Week Two (1/14/11):
Topics: Mental chronometry, reaction time studies, stage models, speed-accuracy tradeoff.
Reading: Lachman et al. Chapter 4 and Meyer et al. (pp. 3-17)

Week Three (1/21/11):
Topics: Mental chronometry, reaction time studies, stage models, speed-accuracy tradeoff. Multimodal multitasking.
Reading: Lachman et al. Chapter 5

Week Four (1/28/11):
Reading: Hornof & Zhang (2001) Slides: Hornof_2010_slides.pdf (7.3 MB).

Week Five (2/4/11):
Reading: Howes, A., Lewis, R. L., & Vera, A. (2009). Rational adaptation under task and processing constraints: Implications for testing theories of cognition and action. Psychological Review, 116(4), 717-751.

Week Six (2/11/11):
Reading: Continue from previous week

Week Seven (2/18/11):
Reading: Kieras, D. E., Meyer, D. E., Ballas, J. A., & Lauber, E. J. (2000). Modern computational perspectives on executive mental processes and cognitive control. Where to from here? In S. Monsell & J. Driver (Eds.), Control of cognitive processes: Attention and performance XVIII. (pp. 681-712). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Week Eight (2/25/11):
Reading: Gray, W. D., & Boehm-Davis, D. A. (2000). Milliseconds matter: An introduction to microstrategies and to their use in describing and predicting interactive behavior. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 6(4), 322-335

Week Nine (3/4/11):
Reading: Gray, W. D., Sims, C. R., Fu, W. -T., & Schoelles, M. J. (2006). The soft constraints hypothesis: A rational analysis approach to resource allocation for interactive behavior. em>Psychological Review, 113(3), 461-482. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.113.3.461

Week Ten (3/11/11):
Reading: Meyer, D. E., & Kieras, D. E. (1997). A computational theory of executive cognitive processes and multiple-task performance: Part 1. Basic mechanisms. Psychological Review, 104(1), 3-65.