[ACT-R-users] New Paper

[Mike Byrne]

A new ACT-R paper just appeared which some of you might find
interesting (particularly those of you who saw Alex Kirlik's talk
at Wayne's workshop in March).  The paper is:

Byrne, M. D., & Kirlik, A. (2005). Using computational cognitive
modeling to diagnose possible sources of aviation error.
International Journal of Aviation Psychology, 15, 135-155.

You can find a link to it (and other papers from my lab) at
<http://chil.rice.edu/research/pubs.html>.

For those not at Alex's talk, here's the abstract of this paper:

We present a computational model of a closed-loop,
pilot-aircraft-visual scene-taxiway system created to shed light on
possible sources of taxi error. The creation of the cognitive
aspects of the model with ACT-R (Adaptive Control of
Thought--Rational) required us to conduct studies with subject
matter experts to identify the experiential adaptations pilots
bring to taxiing.  Five decision strategies were found, ranging
from cognitively intensive but precise to fast and frugal but
robust.  We provide evidence for the model by comparing its
behavior to a National Aeronautics and Space Administration Ames
Research Center simulation of Chicago O'Hare surface operations.
Decision horizons were highly variable; the model selected the most
accurate strategy given the time available.  We found a signature
in the simulation data of the use of globally robust heuristics to
cope with short decision horizons as revealed by the errors
occurring most frequently at atypical taxiway geometries or
clearance routes.  These data provided empirical support for the
model.


-Mike



===========================================================
Mike Byrne, Ph.D.                             byrne at acm.org
Assistant Professor, Psychology Department
Rice University, MS-25          http://chil.rice.edu/byrne/
6100 Main Street                      +1 713-348-3770 voice
Houston, TX  77005-1892                 +1 713-348-5221 fax