Modeling Individual Differences and Stressors (MINDS) in Human Cognitive Performance

We propose an M&S-based approach that extends a cognitive modeling architecture to account for the effects of behavior moderators (BMs) on cognitive performance. We will model the effects of two classes of BMs: 1) individual differences representingvariations in behavior across individuals; and 2) environmental stressors that vary an individual's responses as a function of situation. Our approach to Modeling INdividual Differences and Stressors (MINDS) will be carried out in three phases: 1)selection of a set of BMs relevant to soldier performance and mapping of those moderators to cognitive processes; 2) incorporation of these BMs within a cognitive modeling architecture; and 3) integration of the soldier model within a combat simulationenvironment. To support flexibility in this approach, we propose to augment our modeling environment with three additional components: 1) an interface between the BM representation and the underlying cognitive architecture, allowing for integration with anumber of cognitive frameworks; 2) a simulation interface between the MINDS model and the combat simulation environment, allowing for the deployment of advanced HBMs within a range of simulations; and 3) a suite of HBM development and analysis tools thatsupport the end user in the construction, deployment, and analysis of MINDS models. Significant focus in the US Army's Objective Force Warrior (OFW) program will be placed on enhancing the individual soldier and small unit's performance with respect toinformation-oriented operations. Therefore, we believe that the proposed MINDS system will provide significant insight into how individuals can best be supported in these very cognitively-intensive tasks, in a manner that account for their own style ofwork, personality and biases, as well as situationally-induced performance limiters such as workload and stress. The initial focus of our commercialization effort will be the enhancement of our Intelligent Agent Toolkit (IAT) product, via the incorporationof routines for modeling the effects of individual differences and environmental stressors from the proposed MINDS system.