A cognitive architecture is a customized computer model of the human mind that aims to imitate all elements of human cognition completely.
Cognitive architectures are coherent theories that explain
how a set of fixed mental structures and mechanisms may do intelligent work in
a range of diverse surroundings.
A cognitive architecture has two main components: a theory
of how the human mind works and a computing representation of the theory.
The cognitive theory that underpins a cognitive architecture
will attempt to bring together the findings of a wide range of experiments and
hypotheses into a single, comprehensive framework capable of describing a wide
range of human behavior utilizing a set of evidence-based processes.
The framework established in the theory of cognition is then
used to build the computational representation.
Cognitive architectures like ACT-R (Adaptive Control of
Thought Rational), Soar, and CLARION (Connectionist Learning with Adaptive Rule
Induction On-line) can predict, explain, and model complex human behavior like
driving a car, solving a math problem, or recalling when you last saw the
hippie in the park by combining modeling behavior and modeling the structure of
a cognitive system.
There are four techniques to reaching human-level intelligence inside a cognitive architecture, according to computer scientists Stuart Russell and Peter Norvig:
(1) constructing systems that think like people,
(2) constructing systems that think logically,
(3) constructing systems that behave rationally, and
(4) constructing systems that act like humans.
The behavior of a system that thinks like a person is
produced using recognized human processes.
This is the most common technique in cognitive modeling, as
shown by structures such as John Anderson's ACT-R, Allen Newell and Herb
Simon's General Problem Solver, and the first applications of the general
cognitive architecture known as Soar.
For example, the ACT-R model combines theories of physical
movement, visual attention, and cognition.
The model differentiates between declarative and procedural
knowledge.
Production rules, which are statements expressed as
condition action pairs, are used to express procedural knowledge.
A statement written in the form of IF THEN is an example.
Declarative knowledge is grounded on reality.
It refers to data that is considered static, such as
characteristics, events, or objects.
This sort of architecture will provide behavior that
contains both right and incorrect behavior.
Instead, a system that thinks rationally would employ logic,
computational reasoning, and rules of mind to create consistent and correct
behaviors and outputs.
A rational system will employ intrinsic ideas and knowledge
to attain objectives via a more broad logic and movement from premises to
consequences, which is more flexible to circumstances when complete information
is not available.
The rational agent method is another name for acting
rationally.
Finally, the Turing Test technique may be viewed of as
creating a system that behaves like a person.
To attain humanlike behavior, this technique requires the
development of a system capable of natural language processing, knowledge
representation, automated reasoning, and machine learning in its most stringent
form.
This method does not require every system to achieve all of
these requirements; instead, it focuses on the standards that are most
important to the job at hand.
Apart from those four methods, cognitive architectures are
divided into three categories based on how they process information: symbolic
(or cognitivist), emergent (or connectionist), and hybrid.
Symbolic systems are controlled at a high level from the top
down and analyze data using a series of IF-THEN statements known as production
rules.
EPIC (Executive-Process/Interactive Control) and Soar are
two examples of symbolic information processing cognitive systems.
Emergent systems, like neural networks, are constructed by a
bottom-up flow of information propagating from input nodes into the remainder
of the system.
Emergent systems like Leabra and BECCA (Brain-Emulating
Cognition and Control Architecture) employ a self-organizing, distributed
network of nodes that may function in parallel.
ACT-R and CAPS (Collaborative, Activation-based, Production
System) are examples of hybrid architectures that integrate elements from both
forms of information processing.
A hybrid cognitive architecture geared at visual perception
and understanding, for example, may utilize symbolic processing for labels and
text but an emergent method for visual feature and object recognition.
As particular subtasks become more known, this kind of
mixed-methods approach to developing cognitive architectures is becoming
increasingly widespread.
This may lead to some confusion when categorizing designs,
but it also leads to architectural improvement since the best solutions for
each subtask can be included.
In both academic and industry settings, a number of
cognitive architectures have been created.
Because of its sturdy and speedy software, Soar is one of
the most well-known cognitive architectures that has gone out into industrial
applications.
Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) utilized a proprietary
Soar program named R1-Soar to help with the complicated ordering process for
the VAX computer system in 1985.
Previously, each component of the system (from software to
cable connections) would have to be planned out according to a complicated set
of rules and eventualities.
The R1-Soar system used the Soar cognitive architecture to
automate this operation, saving an estimated $25 million each year.
Soar Technology, Inc. maintains Soar's industrial implementation, and the business continues to engage on military and government projects.
John Anderson's ACT-R is one of the most well-known and
researched cognitive architectures in academia.
ACT-R builds on and expands on previous architectures such
as HAM (Human Associative Memory).
Much of the research on ACT-R has focused on expanding
memory modeling to include a wider range of memory types and cognitive
processes.
ACT-R, on the other hand, has been used in natural language
processing, brain area activation prediction, and the construction of smart
tutors that can model student behavior and tailor the learning curriculum to
their unique requirements.
~ Jai Krishna Ponnappan
You may also want to read more about Artificial Intelligence here.
See also:
Intelligent Tutoring Systems; Interaction for Cognitive Agents; Newell, Allen.
Further Reading
Anderson, John R. 2007. How Can the Human Mind Occur in the Physical Universe? Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Kotseruba, Iuliia, and John K. Tsotsos. 2020. “40 Years of Cognitive Architectures: Core Cognitive Abilities and Practical Applications.” Artificial Intelligence Review 53, no. 1 (January): 17–94.
Ritter, Frank E., Farnaz Tehranchi, and Jacob D. Oury. 2018. “ACT-R: A Cognitive Architecture for Modeling Cognition.” Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science 10, no. 4: 1–19.
