{"pk":29354,"title":"Toward Unifying Cognitive Architecture and Neural Task Set Theories","subtitle":null,"abstract":"PRIMs theory describes a computational foundation for un-derstanding task-general human learning and transfer usingrule-based cognitive architectures. Integration with ACT-Rhas yielded Actransfer, a model that replicates human learn-ing and transfer across many tasks. However, this model re-quires task-specific latency scaling parameters from ACT-Rto model different tasks, implying that there is missing com-putation in the theory. Neuroscience literature has separatelydefined the “task set” as the neural encoding that configuresstimulus-response rule behavior in working memory. The pro-cess of switching between different task sets is often used toexplain human latency costs. This paper introduces an alter-nate instantiation of PRIMs theory that enacts task set process-ing to account for the missing computation via a novel memorystructure called a procedure context. Human tasks of varyingcomplexity are modeled across two experiments. Procedurecontexts model human latencies and interference effects in alltasks by integrating latency, decision making, task representa-tion, and learning as aspects of a single unified process. Thisapproach offers promise for future modeling within cognitivescience by uniting theories from neuroscience and cognitivearchitectures.","language":"eng","license":{"name":"","short_name":"","text":null,"url":""},"keywords":[{"word":"task set; cognitive modeling; cognitive architec-ture; Soar; PRIMs; PROPs; task switching; learning"}],"section":"Choices and Decisions","is_remote":true,"remote_url":"https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8vh926jj","frozenauthors":[{"first_name":"Bryan","middle_name":"","last_name":"Stearns","name_suffix":"","institution":"University of Michigan","department":""},{"first_name":"John","middle_name":"E.","last_name":"Laird","name_suffix":"","institution":"University of Michigan","department":""}],"date_submitted":null,"date_accepted":null,"date_published":"2020-01-01T18:00:00Z","render_galley":null,"galleys":[{"label":"PDF","type":"pdf","path":"https://journalpub.escholarship.org/cognitivesciencesociety/article/29354/galley/19215/download/"}]}