Building Cognitive Models with the EPIC Architecture for Human Cognition and Performance

The EPIC (Executive Process-Interactive Control) cognitive architecture developed by Kieras and Meyer (1997) works especially well for modeling perceptual-motor intensive tasks, multiple tasks, and complex multimodal task environments with many objects and events. The underlying theory has inspired fundamental empirical work and influenced other cognitive architectures. This tutorial presents an opportunity to become acquainted with EPIC. The goal is for attendees to learn enough about EPIC to decide whether it will be useful in their research, and if so, to get quickly started in the full use of it. Hands-on exercises will alternate with presentations of EPIC's mechanisms and facilities and how to use them. The exercises will cover two topics: Visual search, in which non-uniform visual acuity and eye movements play a critical role, and dual-task performance, in which different executive strategies for task coordination determine the overall level of performance. The only programming involved is writing production rules, so fluency in a conventional programming language is not required. A laptop (Macintosh or Windows) will be necessary, individually or shared, for the hands-on exercises. The EPIC software will be provided. Useful readings and the software can be downloaded in advance at . Also, see and for more about EPIC.