COGNITIO: An extended computational theory of cognition

Abstract

Currently, there are only two detailed theories of cognition: ACT* and its successor PUPS (Anderson, 1983; Anderson, 1989) and SOAR (Laird, Newell, & Rosenbloom, 1987). These theories of cognition only account for learning from a procedural chunking point of view. They exclude other aspects of cognition such as episodic memory and declarative chunking (or schema formation) which are manifested in the learning behavior of people. In this paper, we outline COGNITIO, an extended theory of cognition based on ACT*, that will account parsimoniously for the following phenomena evident in learning: declarative chunking, procedural chunking (or compilation), and problem solving based on episodic memory. We plan to use COGNITIO as a theoretical foundation for guiding the design of the student modeling, diagnosis, and remediation components of an intelligent Smalltalk tutor.