Error modeling

[Christian Lebiere]

> I am wondering how what Norman calls "mistakes" map to the types of
> errors that can be simulated in ACT-R?  It would seem like "mistakes"
> would result from having inappropriate chunks in declarative memory, but
> I would like to hear some other thoughts on this.

I guess that "slips" have preoccupied us more because they are really
architectural errors.  "Mistakes", on the other hand, are knowledge errors
whic are primarily task- and subject-dependent.  Of course, incorrect
knowledge can be represented and used in ACT-R, but it usually doesn't have
much bearing on the architecture.  One relation between "slips" and
"mistakes" is developed in chapter 9 of the book (pp. 322 and following)
and at further lengths in my thesis:

http://reports-archive.adm.cs.cmu.edu/anon/1998/abstracts/98-186.html

A "slip" resulting from the partial matching of a correct fact in memory
(e.g. retrieving 3+5=8 for 3+4=?) results in an erroneous fact being added
to declarative memory (3+4=8) which can in turn be retrieved as a "mistake".

> Also, has there been any work in representing schemes in ACT-R?  An
> inappropriate scheme might produce the type of errors Norman has
> identified as "mistakes".

Eric Scott presented at the 1998 ACT-R workshop a clever implementation of
schemas in ACT-R:

http://act.psy.cmu.edu/ACT/ftp/workshop/Workshop-98/Scott/quick_index.html

Although it does not explicitely mention errors, it seems to have some
potential for your application.

Christian