Modeling Cognitive Parsimony with a Demand Selection Task

The law of less work (Hull, 1943) is our natural tendency given two alternatives with equal incentives to pick the less demanding one. This notion also appears in the field of judgment and decision making (Gigerenzer & Goldstein, 1996; Tversky & Kahneman, 1974), it is referred to as internal cost of effort. Cognitive parsimony is our tendency to favour low-effort strategies that help us to decide faster and simple strategies to approach a complex problem. An experimental paradigm for this phenomenon has been developed by Kool, McGuire, Rosen, & Botvinick (2010) and referred to as the demand selection task. In this poster, we present a model of this task developed in the ACT-R architecture (Anderson, 2007), which offers an hypothesis as to which cognitive mechanisms might participate in this phenomenon

Une architecture cognitive inspirée des théories des processus duaux pour une interaction fluide des comportements réactifs et délibératifs

La présente thèse a pour objectif de développer une architecture cognitive capable de manifester un comportement séquentiel-délibératif et réactif cohérent. Pour réaliser cet objectif, nous avons conçu une architecture cognitive capable de rendre compte de la dualité du comportement humain, où ces deux types de comportement coexistent et contribuent de manière fluide au fonctionnement d'un système unifié. Notre architecture est développée d'après une théorie des processus duaux, le modèle tripartite de Stanovich (2009), qui rend compte des différents biais cognitifs manifestés par les sujets humains ainsi que les différences individuelles entre les humains. L'architecture cognitive est implémentée grâce à un système multi-agents où plusieurs organisations d'agents forment les trois niveaux définis dans le modèle tripartite : réactif, algorithmique et réflexif. Le groupe réactif, une carte conceptuelle d'agents réactifs liés à des capteurs et effecteurs, constitue les mémoires à long terme et de travail du système. Le groupe algorithmique effectue les opérations de contrôle dans le système et agit sur le niveau réactif. Enfin les agents du groupe réflexif contiennent les objectifs à long terme du système et agissent tant sur les niveaux réactifs (activation/inhibition) et algorithmiques (déclenchement d'opérations de découplage). Un comportement hybride (séquentiel-délibératif et réactif) émerge de l'interaction de ces trois groupes d'agents. Nous proposons une validation tant théorique que pratique de l'architecture. La première consistera à évaluer le système proposé en tant qu'architecture cognitive alors que la seconde consistera à évaluer les performances du système sur des tâches exigeant de l'attention, de la flexibilité cognitive, des capacités de raisonnement et des réactions émotionnelles. Cette évaluation a mis en évidence l'aptitude de l'architecture à simuler adéquatement un certain nombre de phénomènes cognitifs ainsi qu'à reproduire différents profils cognitifs humains.\ud ______________________________________________________________________________ \ud MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : architecture cognitive, théories des processus duaux, système multiagents, Framework tripartite de Stanovich, séquentialité, réactivit

Emotion in the Common Model of Cognition

Emotions play an important role in human cognition and therefore need to be present in the Common Model of Cognition. In this paper, the emotion working group focuses on functional aspects of emotions and describes what we believe are the points of interactions with the Common Model of Cognition. The present paper should not be viewed as a consensus of the group but rather as a first attempt to extract common and divergent aspects of different models of emotions and how they relate to the Common Model of Cognition

Emotion in the Common Model of Cognition

Emotions play an important role in human cognition and therefore need to be present in the Common Model of Cognition. In this paper, the emotion working group focuses on functional aspects of emotions and describes what we believe are the points of interactions with the Common Model of Cognition. The present paper should not be viewed as a consensus of the group but rather as a first attempt to extract common and divergent aspects of different models of emotions and how they relate to the Common Model of Cognition

A Core-Affect Model of Decision Making in Simple and Complex Tasks

When it comes to decision making, the dominant view suggests that engaging in a detailed analytical thought process is more beneficial than deciding based on one’s feelings. However, there seems to be a tradeoff, as the complexity and amount of elements on which to base the decision increases, decisions based on affect seem to be more accurate than decisions based on a thorough analytical process in specific contexts. In those last cases, an affective modulation of memory may help to make better decisions in complex tasks that exceed human’s limited cognitive capacities. Some dual process accounts, ‘‘deliberation-without-attention’’ hypothesis (Dijksterhuis et al., 2006), oppose a cognitive (i.e., conscious) route to an affective (i.e., unconscious) route. Since most dual process accounts suggest one type of process is better than the other, the interaction and integration of affective and more conscious analytical processes in decision making have been understudied. To address this issue, we propose an explanation of the dynamics and interaction of cognitive (i.e., explicit) and affective (i.e., implicit) encoding and retrieval of elements in memory, using a unified theory based on core affect (Russell, 2003), in the shape of a cognitive model in the ACT-R cognitive architecture

A Call for Unification of Dual- and Single-Process Accounts in Cognitive Models of Intuition

We examine how both single-process and dual-process accounts can inform models of intuition. To do so, we review theoretical differences between ACT-R and CLARION and propose a model unifying single-process and dual-process accounts within the ACT-R cognitive architecture. In this model, the function of cognitive decoupling is introduced and its role in the emergence of slow intuition is explained

A Call for Unification of Dual- and Single-Process Accounts in Cognitive Models of Intuition

We examine how both single-process and dual-process accounts can inform models of intuition. To do so, we review theoretical differences between ACT-R and CLARION and propose a model unifying single-process and dual-process accounts within the ACT-R cognitive architecture. In this model, the function of cognitive decoupling is introduced and its role in the emergence of slow intuition is explained

Modeling Cognitive Parsimony with a Demand Selection Task

The law of less work (Hull, 1943) is our natural tendency given two alternatives with equal incentives to pick the less demanding one. This notion also appears in the field of judgment and decision making (Gigerenzer & Goldstein, 1996; Tversky & Kahneman, 1974), it is referred to as internal cost of effort. Cognitive parsimony is our tendency to favour low-effort strategies that help us to decide faster and simple strategies to approach a complex problem. An experimental paradigm for this phenomenon has been developed by Kool, McGuire, Rosen, & Botvinick (2010) and referred to as the demand selection task. In this poster, we present a model of this task developed in the ACT-R architecture (Anderson, 2007), which offers an hypothesis as to which cognitive mechanisms might participate in this phenomenon

A Core-Affect Model of Decision Making in Simple and Complex Tasks

When it comes to decision making, the dominant view suggests that engaging in a detailed analytical thought process is more beneficial than deciding based on one’s feelings. However, there seems to be a tradeoff, as the complexity and amount of elements on which to base the decision increases, decisions based on affect seem to be more accurate than decisions based on a thorough analytical process in specific contexts. In those last cases, an affective modulation of memory may help to make better decisions in complex tasks that exceed human’s limited cognitive capacities. Some dual process accounts, ‘‘deliberation-without-attention’’ hypothesis (Dijksterhuis et al., 2006), oppose a cognitive (i.e., conscious) route to an affective (i.e., unconscious) route. Since most dual process accounts suggest one type of process is better than the other, the interaction and integration of affective and more conscious analytical processes in decision making have been understudied. To address this issue, we propose an explanation of the dynamics and interaction of cognitive (i.e., explicit) and affective (i.e., implicit) encoding and retrieval of elements in memory, using a unified theory based on core affect (Russell, 2003), in the shape of a cognitive model in the ACT-R cognitive architecture

Modeling Valuation and Core Affect in a Cognitive Architecture: The Impact of Valence and Arousal on Memory and Decision-Making

A novel approach to adding primitive evaluative capabilities to a cognitive architecture is proposed. Two sub-symbolic quantities called valuation and arousal are learned for each declarative memory element based on usage statistics and the reward it generates. As a result, each memory element can be characterized as positive or negative and having a certain degree of affective intensity. In turn, these characteristics affect the latency and probability of retrieval for that memory element. Two global accumulators called core-affect-valuation and core-affect-arousal are computed as weighted sums of all retrievable valuations and arousals, respectively. The weights reflect usage history, context relevance, and reward accrual for all retrievable memory elements. These accumulators describe the general disposition or mood of the system. Core affect dynamics are used as reward signals to learn valuation and arousal values for new objects or events. The new architectural mechanism is used to develop two models that demonstrate the impact of affective valence and arousal on memory and decision-making. The models are fit to datasets from the literature and make novel predictions. The value of including valuation and core affect mechanisms in a cognitive architecture is discussed