chapter 12

cognitive models
Cognitive models

• goal and task hierarchies

• linguistic

• physical and device

• architectural
Cognitive models

• Cognitive models represent users of

interactive systems.
• Hierarchical models represent a user's task
and goal structure.
• Linguistic models represent the user-system
grammar.
• Physical and device models represent
human motor skills.
• Cognitive architectures underlie all of these
cognitive models.
Cognitive models

• They model aspects of user:

– understanding
– knowledge
– intentions
– processing

• Common categorisation:
– Competence vs. Performance
– Computational flavour
– No clear divide
Goal and task hierarchies

• Mental processing as divide-and-conquer

• Example: sales report
produce report
gather data
. find book names
. . do keywords search of names database
. . . … further sub-goals
. . sift through names and abstracts by hand
. . . … further sub-goals
. search sales database - further sub-goals
layout tables and histograms - further sub-goals
write description - further sub-goals
goals vs. tasks

• goals – intentions
what you would like to be true
• tasks – actions
how to achieve it

• GOMS – goals are internal

• HTA – actions external

– tasks are abstractions
Issues for goal hierarchies

• Granularity
– Where do we start?
– Where do we stop?
• Routine learned behaviour, not problem
solving
– The unit task
• Conflict
– More than one way to achieve a goal
• Error
Techniques

• Goals, Operators, Methods and

Selection (GOMS)

• Cognitive Complexity Theory (CCT)

• Hierarchical Task Analysis (HTA) -

Chapter 15
GOMS

Goals
– what the user wants to achieve

Operators
– basic actions user performs

Methods
– decomposition of a goal into subgoals/operators

Selection
– means of choosing between competing methods
GOMS example

GOAL: CLOSE-WINDOW
. [select GOAL: USE-MENU-METHOD
. MOVE-MOUSE-TO-FILE-MENU
. PULL-DOWN-FILE-MENU
. CLICK-OVER-CLOSE-OPTION
GOAL: USE-CTRL-W-METHOD
. PRESS-CONTROL-W-KEYS]

For a particular user:

Rule 1: Select USE-MENU-METHOD unless another

rule applies
Rule 2: If the application is GAME,
select CTRL-W-METHOD
 How to do GOMS Analysis
• Generate task description
– pick high-level user Goal
– write Method for accomplishing Goal - may invoke
subgoals
– write Methods for subgoals
• this is recursive
• stops when Operators are reached
• Evaluate description of task
• Apply results to UI
• Iterate!
Example - DOS

• Goal: Delete a File

• Method for accomplishing goal of deleting a
file
– retrieve from Long term memory that command verb
is “del”
– think of directory name & file name and make it the
first listed parameter
– accomplish goal of entering & executing command
– return with goal accomplished
Example - Mac

• Goal: Delete a File

• Method for accomplishing goal of
deleting a file
– find file icon
– accomplish goal of dragging file to trash
– Return with goal accomplished
Advantages of GOMS

• Gives qualitative & quantitative

measures
• Model explains the results
• Less work than user study
• Easy to modify when UI is revised
• Research: tools to aid modeling process
since it can still be tedious
Disadvantages of GOMS

• Not as easy as HE, guidelines, etc.

• Takes lots of time, skill, & effort
• Only works for goal-directed tasks
• Assumes tasks performed by experts
without error
• Does not address several UI issues,
– readability, memorizability of icons,
commands
Automated GOMS Tools

• Can save, modify and re-use the model

• Automation of goal hierarchy, method,
selection rule creation
QGOMS tool
Cognitive Complexity Theory
• Two parallel descriptions:
– User production rules
– Device generalised transition networks

• GOMS like hierarchy expressed in production

rules

• Production rules are of the form:

– if condition then action

• Transition networks covered under dialogue

models
Example: editing with vi

• Production rules are in long-term memory

• Model working memory as attribute-value
mapping:
(GOAL perform unit task)
(TEXT task is insert space)
(TEXT task is at 5 23)
(CURSOR 8 7)
• Rules are pattern-matched to working
memory,
e.g., LOOK-TEXT task is at %LINE %COLUMN
is true, with LINE = 5 COLUMN = 23.
 Four rules to model
inserting a space
Active rules:
SELECT-INSERT-SPACE New working memory
INSERT-SPACE-MOVE-FIRST (GOAL insert space)
INSERT-SPACE-DOIT (NOTE executing insert space)
INSERT-SPACE-DONE (LINE 5) (COLUMN 23)

SELECT-INSERT-SPACE
matches current working memory

(SELECT-INSERT-SPACE
IF (AND (TEST-GOAL perform unit task)
(TEST-TEXT task is insert space)
(NOT (TEST-GOAL insert space))
(NOT (TEST-NOTE executing insert space)))
THEN ( (ADD-GOAL insert space)
(ADD-NOTE executing insert space)
(LOOK-TEXT task is at %LINE %COLUMN)))
Notes on CCT

• Parallel model
• Proceduralisation of actions
• Novice versus expert style rules
• Error behaviour can be represented
• Measures
– depth of goal structure
– number of rules
– comparison with device description
Why CCT?

• CCT analyzed to discuss proceduralization and

error behavior
• Related to GOMS-like goal hierarchies
• Able to measure complexity of interface
• More production rules =
more difficult to learn interface
• Proportional to # of rules you to learn
• Problem closure
– No higher level goal should be satisfied until all
subgoals have been satisfied
– Not easy to predict
Problems with goal
hierarchies

• a post hoc technique

– Produce a goal structure based on pre-
existing manual procedures to obtain a
more natural hierarchy

• expert versus novice

• How cognitive are they?

Linguistic notations

• Understanding the user's behaviour and

cognitive difficulty based on analysis of
language between user and system.
• Similar in emphasis to dialogue models

• 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 behaviour
– 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
choose one ::= pos mouse + CLICK MOUSE
last point ::= pos mouse + DBL CLICK MOUSE
pos mouse ::= NULL | MOVE MOUSE+ pos mouse
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
– minimal consistency checking
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 + filename | cp + filenames +
directory
move ::= mv + filename + filename | mv + filenames +
directory
link ::= ln + filename + filename | ln + filenames +
directory

• No BNF measure could distinguish between this and a

less consistent grammar in which

link ::= ln + filename + filename | ln + directory +

filenames
Consistency in TAG (cont'd)

• 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 + filename
| command[Op] + filenames +
directory
command[Op = copy] ::= cp
command[Op = move] ::= mv
command[Op = link] ::= ln
Other uses of TAG

• User’s existing knowledge

• Congruence between features and

commands

• These are modelled as derived rules

Physical and device models

• The Keystroke Level Model (KLM)

• Buxton's 3-state model
– Bill [Link]
– Bill Buxton at Microsoft
– Perspectives on Design
• Based on empirical knowledge of human
motor system
• User's task: acquisition then execution.
– 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.

Texecute = TK + TP + TH + TD + TM + TR
KLM example
GOAL: ICONISE-WINDOW
[select
GOAL: USE-CLOSE-METHOD
. MOVE-MOUSE-TO- FILE-MENU
. PULL-DOWN-FILE-MENU
. CLICK-OVER-CLOSE-OPTION
GOAL: USE-CTRL-W-METHOD
PRESS-CONTROL-W-KEY]

USE-CTRL-W-METHOD USE-CLOSE-METHOD
• compare alternatives:
• USE-CTRL-W-METHOD vs. H[to kbd] 0.40 P[to menu] 1.1
• USE-CLOSE-METHOD M 1.35 B[LEFT down] 0.1
K[ctrlW key] 0.28 M 1.35
• assume hand starts on mouse P[to option] 1.1
B[LEFT up] 0.1
Total 2.03 s Total 3.75 s
Architectural models

• All of these cognitive models make

assumptions about the architecture of
the human mind.
• Long-term/Short-term memory
• Problem spaces
• Interacting Cognitive Subsystems
• Connectionist
• ACT
Display-based interaction

• Most cognitive models do not deal with

user observation and perception

• Some techniques have been extended

to handle system output
(e.g., BNF with sensing terminals, Display-TAG)
but problems persist

• Exploratory interaction versus planning