J. Anderson, Acquisition of Cognitive Skill. {\em Psychological Review}, 89, 1982.

Author of the summary: J. William Murdock, 1997, murdock@cc.gatech.edu

Cite this paper for:

• Human leaning can be modeled using a three stage process which begins with declarative knowledge, goes through a transition, and ends with procedural knowledge.

Keywords: Production System, Knowledge Compilation

System: ACT

Summary: Introduces a theory of learning divided into three stages:
cognitive (declarative), associative (transitional), and autonomous
(procedural).  Introduces production systems in general and ACT in
particular, using an example.  Describes key features of ACT: goals,
conflict resolution (based on specificity, strength, prohibition of
repetition, etc.), and variablized slots.  Describes the declarative
stage using geometric proofs as an example (arguing that the
procedural knowledge needed for novice performance is simply not
available).  Discusses the knowledge compilation process as involving
two mechanisms: composition of productions into "macroproductions",
and proceduralization or the replacement of variables in generalized
productions with specific data in specialized ones.  Compares the ACT
knowledge compilation mechanisms with known psychological results.
Describes additional learning that takes place in the final
(procedural) stage: generalization, discrimination
(i.e. specialization), and adjusting strengths.  Provides more
psychological evidence and analysis, including a description of ACT's
modeling of the power law of learning.  

Summary author's notes:

• This summary came from a file which had the following disclaimer: "The following summaries are the completely unedited and often hastily composed interpretations of a single individual without any sort of systematic or considered review. As such it is very likely that at least some of the following text is incomplete, inadequate, misleading, or simply wrong. One might view this as a very preliminary draft of a survey paper that will probably never be completed. The author disclaims all responsibility for the accuracy or use of this document; this is not an official publication of the Georgia Institute of Technology or the College of Computing thereof, and the opinions expressed here may not even fully match the fully considered opinions of the author much less the general opinions of the aformentioned organizations."