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Here are two in-press publications involving ACT-R and production-system
modeling. Both are available at
<a href="http://www.clemson.edu/psych/gugerty/publications.htm" eudora="autourl">http://www.clemson.edu/psych/gugerty/publications.htm<br><br>
</a>1. Gugerty, L. & Rodes, W. (in press, publication expected fall
2007). A cognitive model of strategies for cardinal direction judgments.
<i>Spatial Cognition and Computation</i>. <br><br>
<i>Abstract</i>: Previous research has identified a variety of strategies
used by novice and experienced navigators in making cardinal direction
judgments (Gugerty, Brooks & Treadaway, 2004). We developed an ACT-R
cognitive model of some of these strategies that instantiated a number of
concepts from research in spatial cognition, including a
visual-short-term-memory buffer overlaid on a perceptual buffer, an
egocentric reference frame in visual-short-term-memory, storage of
categorical spatial information in visual-short-term-memory, and rotation
of a mental compass in visual-short-term-memory. Response times predicted
by the model fit well with the data of two groups, college students
(<i>N</i> = 20) trained and practiced in the modeled strategies, and jet
pilots (<i>N</i> = 4) with no strategy training. Thus, the cognitive
model seems to provide an accurate description of important strategies
for cardinal direction judgments. Additionally, it demonstrates how
theoretical constructs in spatial cognition can be applied to a complex,
realistic navigation task. <br><br>
2. Gugerty, L. (in press, publication expected May 2007). Cognitive
components of troubleshooting strategies. <i>Thinking and Reasoning</i>.
<br><br>
<i>Abstract</i>: This study investigated the kinds of knowledge necessary
to learn an important troubleshooting strategy, elimination. Fifty
college-level students searched for the source of failures in simple
digital networks. Production system modeling suggested that students
using a common but simpler backtracking strategy would learn the more
advanced elimination strategy if they applied certain domain-specific
knowledge and the general-purpose problem-solving strategy of reductio ad
absurdum. In an experiment, students solved network troubleshooting
problems after being trained with either the domain-specific knowledge,
the reductio ad absurdum strategy, both types of knowledge, or neither.
Students needed both the domain-specific and general knowledge identified
by the models in order to significantly increase their elimination use.
<br><br>
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Lee Gugerty<br>
Psychology Department<br>
418 Brackett Hall<br>
Clemson University<br>
Clemson, SC 29634-1355; USA<br>
Phone: 864-656-4467<br>
Web Page:
<a href="http://www.clemson.edu/psych/gugerty/" eudora="autourl">http://www.clemson.edu/psych/gugerty/<br>
</a>Usability Consulting:
<a href="http://www.gugerty.net/" eudora="autourl">http://www.gugerty.net<br>
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