Cognitive Modeling with Apex

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Speaker
Bonnie John
Associate Professor, Human-Computer Interaction Institute, Carnegie Mellon University

When
-

Where
Newell-Simon Hall 1305 (Michael Mauldin Auditorium)

Description

CPM-GOMS is a computational cognitive modeling method that combines the hierarchical task decomposition of a GOMS analysis with a model of human resource usage at the level of cognitive, perceptual, and motor operations. CPM-GOMS models have made accurate predictions about skilled user behavior in routine tasks, but developing such models is tedious and error-prone.

We describe a process for automatically generating CPM-GOMS models from a hierarchical task decomposition expressed in a cognitive modeling tool called Apex. Resource scheduling in Apex automates the difficult task of interleaving the cognitive, perceptual, and motor resources underlying common task operators (e.g. mouse move-and-click). Apex’s UI automatically generates PERT charts, which allow modelers to visualize a model’s complex parallel behavior. Because interleaving and visualization is now automated, it is feasible to construct arbitrarily long sequences of behavior. To demonstrate the process, we present a model of automated teller machine interactions in Apex and discuss implications for user modeling.

Speaker's Bio

Bonnie John is an Associate Professor and founding member of the Human-Computer Interaction Institute. She holds degrees in mechanical engineering (BEng, The Cooper Union; MS, Stanford) and psychology (MS, PhD Carnegie Mellon). Her research interests are in methods for designing more usable computer systems, including computational cognitive modeling and software architectures for usability. She is a member of the National Research Council’s Committee on Human Factors. Dr. John spent the summer of 2001 at “CM-West” (NASA Ames) where this work was done.