CHAPTER 9
COGNITIVE MODELS
9.0 COGNITIVE MODELS
The model aspects of user:
• Understanding, Knowledge, Intentions, processing.
Common Categorization:
• Competence vs Performance
• Computational flavor
• No clear divide
9.1 GOAL AND TASK HIERARCHIES
• Goals Vs Tasks:
• Goals – intentions
• What you would like to be true
• Tasks – Actions
• How to achieve it
• Different methods may emphasize one or the others
Issues for Goal hierarchies:
• GOMS is a family of predictive models of human performance that
can be used to improve the efficiency of human-machine interaction
by identifying and eliminating unnecessary user actions. GOMS stands
for (Goals, Operators, Methods, and Selection).
9.2 LINGUISTIC MODELS
• Linguistic notations:
• • Understanding the user's behavior and cognitive difficulty based on analysis of language
between user and system.
• Backus–Naur Form (BNF)
• Task–Action Grammar (TAG)
• Backus-Naur Form (BNF)
• Very common notation from computer science
• A purely syntactic view of the dialogue
• Terminals
– lowest level of user behavior
– e. g. CLICK-MOUSE, MOVE-MOUSE
• Nonterminals
– ordering of terminals
– higher level of abstraction
– e. g. select-menu, position-mouse
Example of BNF:
• Basic syntax:
– nonterminal : : = expression
• An expression
– contains terminals and nonterminals
– combined in sequence (+) or as alternatives (|)
• draw line : : = select line + choose points + last point
• select line : : = pos mouse + CLICK MOUSE
• choose points : : = choose one | choose one + choose points
Measurements with BNF:
• Number of rules (not so good)
• Number of + and | operators
• Complications
– Same syntax for different semantics
– No reflection of user's perception
Task Action Grammar (TAG):
• Making consistency more explicit
• Encoding user's world knowledge
• Parameterised grammar rules
• Nonterminals are modified to include additional semantic features
Consistency in TAG:
• In BNF, three UNIX commands would be described as:
• copy : : = cp + filename | cp + filenames + directory
• move: : = mv + filename | mv + filenames + directory
• link : : = ln + filename | ln + filenames + directory
• No BNF measure could distinguish between this and a less consistent grammar in
which
• link: : = ln + filename | ln + directory + filenames
• consistency of argument order made explicit using a parameter, or semantic
feature for file operations
• Feature Possible values
• Op = copy; move; link
• Rules
• File-op [Op] : : = command[Op] + filename
• command [Op] + filenames + directory
• Command [Op = copy] : : = cp
• Command [Op = move] : : = mv
• Command [Op = link] : : = ln
9.3 THE CHALLENGE OF DISPLAY- BASED SYSTEMS
• Most Cognitive models do not deal well with user observation and perception.
• Some techniques have been extended to handle system output
(Eg, BNF with sensing terminals, Display – TAG) but problems persist.
• There’s a tension in the theory of exploratory interaction versus the planning
emphasis of GOMS.
9.4 PHYSICAL AND DEVICE MODELS
• The Keystroke Level Model (KLM)
• Buxton's 3-state model
• Based on empirical knowledge of human motor system
• User's task: acquisition then execution.
• o these only address execution
• Complementary with goal hierarchies
Keystroke Level Model (KLM)
• Lowest level of (original) GOMS
•
• Six execution phase operators
• – Physical motor: K – keystroking
• P – Pointing
• H - Homing
• D - Drawing
• – Mental M - mental preparation
• – System R - response
• • Times are empirically determined.
• T execute = TK + TP + TH + TD + TM + TR
9.5 COGNITIVE ARCHITECTURES