Human Behavior Architecture Interface for Integrated Cognitive and Task Performance Model Development

In this proposal we describe the steps necessary to implement a human performance modeling tool that supports the representation of both procedural and cognitive aspects within a unified modeling environment. The proposed effort builds on our Phase I work in which we explored the integration of task network and cognitive modeling tools at both the conceptual and methodological level. The result of that work is the notion of task decomposition as a unifying framework; in the same way that overt behavior might be decomposed into sequences of (perhaps interleaved) tasks, we realized that cognitive behavior can also be modeled in these terms. We deepened our understanding of such a modeling approach with the careful consideration of possible use cases. This led to a list of needs and requirements for the integrated tool. During Phase II we will implement the software that satisfies these needs and requirements. Our implementation effort will not only effect the needed integration, but it will also allow us to re-implement a fair portion of ACT-R legacy code. The result of this effort will be a functional modeling and simulation tool that can be applied directly to the problems facing the Army during its transformation.