Computational Cognitive Models Iso Ecologically Optimal Strategies

Our work with the Argus Prime (Schoelles & Gray, 2001) simulated task environment has uncovered a variety of strategies that subjects use, at least sometimes, during target acquisition. However, it is difficult to determine how well subjects implement these strategies and, if implemented, how much these strategies contribute to overall performance. Recently, we have adopted Byrne and Kirlik’s (2002) cognitive-ecological approach to determine what strategies work best in different task environments. In the work reported here, we took one computational cognitive model and, holding all else constant, swapped in and out alternative strategies for target acquisition. We then ran each of these simulated human users ten times through each of four interface conditions.