From tony.simon at psych.gatech.edu Mon May 12 10:40:22 1997 From: tony.simon at psych.gatech.edu (Tony J. Simon) Date: Mon, 12 May 1997 10:40:22 -0400 Subject: Restarting with non-zero Base Level Activations Message-ID: Folks I am trying to run an ACT-R model a number of times with some (not all) WME's starting out with the Base Level Activations that were reached by the end of the previous run. I am having trouble figuring out how to do this and wondered what help I could get. Here is the issue. I am modeling infants' looking time responses to a task where 1-3 physical objects are manipulated by an experimenter. The objects exist in the ACT-R code as do the resulting mental representations, coded as "object files" (though of course it would be better if only the latter were in ACT-R code and the former in presented via LISP somehow). At the end of a run, the object file WME's have certain levels of activation which affect production match latency and this contributes to looking time. As a further test for the model, I would like to do some "habituation" runs, i.e. repeat the task N times with the prediction that looking time will decrease to asymptote by N repetitions of the same outcome. This should happen just fine because all the object file activations will increase and thus matching will be faster. Here is the problem. The WMEs for the object files do not exist at the start of the run. They are created when the model "sees" the physical objects, and this happens at different times in different tasks. If I try to create those objects (eg. set baselevels for "object-file3" -5") at the start, then the counter is incremented and when the productions create the object files they simply make objectfile6-8, each with the default 0 BLA. I don't think I can use setallbaselevels as the physical objects should not have their activations changed because they are not part of the mental representation. I do need to come up with some kind of Lisp "shell" for this to present the objects and different tasks, but not being much of a lisp hacker this would be an unnecessary barrier to getting the model finished and submitted for publication soon. So, is there any simple solution to this problem? Thanks --Tony Simon ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tony J. Simon Assistant Professor of Psychology & Cognitive Science School of Psychology (Tel) (404) 894-2681 Georgia Institute of Technology (FAX) (404) 894-8905 Atlanta, GA 30332-0170 Internet: tony.simon at psych.gatech.edu WWW page http://www.prism.gatech.edu/~as53/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From alexander at philos.rug.nl Thu May 15 08:14:06 1997 From: alexander at philos.rug.nl (Alexander P.M. van den Bosch) Date: Thu, 15 May 1997 14:14:06 +0200 Subject: Registration masterclass ACT-R in Groningen Message-ID: >>>>>>> (on-line) registration is now possible <<<<<<< SECOND ANNOUNCEMENT: Hands-On Masterclass: Cognitive Modeling with ACT-R ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Groningen University, The Netherlands From Monday 7 to Friday 11 July 1997 Held as part of the second Summerschool of the Groningen Graduate School for Behavioural, and Cognitive Neurosciences (BCN). Speakers * John R. Anderson Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University * Christian Lebiere Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University Local coordinators * Alexander P.M. van den Bosch Department of Philosophy, University of Groningen * Niels A. Taatgen Cognitive Science & Engineering, University of Groningen Course Description The goal of this hands-on course is to provide students with a comprehensive introduction to John Anderson's theory of the mind ACT-R and experience in cognitive modeling. ACT-R is implemented as a simulation system for developing cognitive models for tasks that vary from simple serial recall to complex reasoning. In this course students receive lectures about the theory and practice the skill of cognitive modeling by working on assignments in an assisted practical on Unix workstations. However, students who can bring a Macintosh Powerbook along are encouraged to do so. Topics include: 1. Introduction to production systems 2. Knowledge representation 3. Parameters and conflict resolution 4. Activation and Latency 5. Learning activation parameters 6. Learning conflict resolution 7. Learning productions by analogy Prerequisites Programming experience and an introduction to cognitive psychology are highly recommended. Further Information & Registration More detailed information and an online registration form can be found on the BCN homepage: http://www.bcn.rug.nl/bcn/events/index.html. Registration is on a first come, first serve basis. The participation is limited to 24 students. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Alexander P.M. van den Bosch Department of Philosophy e-mail:alexander at philos.rug.nl University of Groningen http://tcw2.ppsw.rug.nl/~vdbosch Groningen The Netherlands ------------------------------------------------------------------- From cl+ at andrew.cmu.edu Thu May 22 09:35:48 1997 From: cl+ at andrew.cmu.edu (Christian J Lebiere) Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 09:35:48 -0400 (EDT) Subject: 1997 ACT-R Workshop Message-ID: Admission to the ACT-R summer school is now closed. Here is a more detailed announcement for the ACT-R workshop. Note that the early registration deadline is June 15. Suggestions for session topics are welcome. ---- FOURTH ANNUAL ACT-R WORKSHOP ============================ Carnegie Mellon University - August 2 to 5 1997 =============================================== ACT-R is a simulation system for developing cognitive models for tasks that vary from simple reaction time to air traffic control. Each year a workshop is held to present new developments and applications and will be held at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh from August 2 to August 5, 1997 (just before the Cognitive Science conference). The early registration deadline is June 15. The mornings will be devoted to research presentations. Participants are invited to give a short presentations of their related research (completed, ongoing and planned projects are all acceptable). Early afternoons will be devoted to special interest sessions. Potential session topics include ACT-R education and standardization, parameter estimation in ACT-R models and the new perceptual/motor interface. Feel free to suggest a session topic, either on your registration form or by replying to this email. During late afternoons and evenings, participants are encouraged to work on their research, exchange ideas and engage in unstructured discussions. Finally, this year's invited speaker is Walter Schneider from the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition. He will speak about the latest neurophysiological data, followed by a discussion on ACT-R's relevance to neural data and connectionist models. Admission to the workshop is open to all. The early registration fee is $50 and the late registration fee (after June 15) is $75. A registration form is appended below. Specify the title of your talk (if applicable) and any suggestion for a session topic. If you have already registered, feel free to send your suggestions by email. Additional information such as a detailed schedule will appear on the ACT-R Web site (http://act.psy.cmu.edu/) as available or can be requested at: 1997 ACT-R Workshop Psychology Department Attn: Helen Borek Baker Hall 345C Fax: +1 (412) 268-2844 Carnegie Mellon University Tel: +1 (412) 268-3438 Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890 Email: helen+ at cmu.edu ________________________________________________________ Fourth Annual ACT-R Workshop August 2 to 5, 1997 at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh REGISTRATION ============ Name: .................................................................. Address: .................................................................. .................................................................. .................................................................. Tel/Fax: .................................................................. Email: .................................................................. Workshop (August 2 to 5): ........ (check here to register) ========================= Presentation title (optional): ............................................. Suggestion for session topic: .............................................. A registration fee of $50 if received before JUNE 15 and $75 otherwise is due upon registration. Please send checks or money orders only. We cannot accept credit cards. HOUSING ======= Housing is available in the CMU dormitories. Exact rates have not yet been determined but should be similar to last year's rates, which were $38 per night or $190 per week for the Resnick/West Wing dorms (newer, AC), and $19 per night or $95 per week for the Morewood dorms (older, no AC). Complete the following to reserve a room in the dorms: I will stay from ........ to ........ in ..................... dorm. ROOM PAYMENT IS DUE UPON CHECK-IN. DO NOT SEND MONEY. The recommended hotel is the Holiday Inn University Center, located on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh within easy walking distance of CMU. The group rate of $100/night can be obtained by refering to the CMU/ACT-R Workshop (File# M-89E) only until JUNE 30. Contact the Holiday Inn directly at +1 (412) 682-6200. Send this form to: 1997 ACT-R Workshop Psychology Department Attn: Helen Borek Baker Hall 345C Fax: +1 (412) 268-2844 Carnegie Mellon University Tel: +1 (412) 268-3438 Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890 Email: helen+ at cmu.edu From tj at medinfo.ohio-state.edu Fri May 30 14:58:09 1997 From: tj at medinfo.ohio-state.edu (Todd R. Johnson) Date: Fri, 30 May 1997 14:58:09 -0400 Subject: Rabinowitz and Goldberg Alphabet Arithmetic Experiment Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970530145801.00a71740@earth.medinfo.ohio-state.edu> Has anyone written an Act-R model of the Alphabet arithmetic experiments in the following paper? Rabinowitz, M., & Goldberg, N. (1995). Evaluating the structure-process hypothesis. In F. E. Weinert & W. Schneider (Eds.), Memory Performance and Competencies: Issues in Growth and Development (pp. 225-242). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. I am going to give a talk on "Memory and Learning in Act-R and Soar" at the upcoming Soar workshop. The talk will focus on Act-R and Soar models of the experiments in this paper. If you are interested, and not familiar with this paper, it shows that people use computation (procedural knowledge) to acquire declarative knowledge that allows them to switch from computation to retrieval. It also shows that procedural knowledge and declarative retrieval speed up with practice and that procedural knowledge is subject to asymmetric access, whereas declarative knowledge is subject to symmetric access. It is somewhat similar to the Zbrodoff alphabet artihmetic experiment, for those of you familiar with the Act-R tutorial. Both experiments are summarized in John and Christian's draft chapters of the Act 4 book. The Rabinowitz and Goldberg experiment is interesting from a comparative architectures perspective, because the results appear to be completely consistent with Act-R, but largely inconsistent with Soar. ---Todd Todd R. Johnson (http://www.medinfo.ohio-state.edu/tj) Assistant Professor, Dept. of Pathology Division of Medical Informatics The Ohio State University