Dynamic Representation of Structural Constraints in Models of Serial Behaviour

The Competitive Queuing (CQ) approach to the generation of serial order views sequential behaviour as the result of competition between a set of alternative responses all activated in parallel. This type of model can show a general error pattern when damaged which is very like that of psychological subjects in several different modalities and paradigms. However, many forms of serial behaviour are subject to tight, domain-specific constraints on just which sequences can be produced. Such constraints are revealed in the fine structure of the errors which subjects make. This paper identifies two general strategies for the representation of such domain-specific sequential constraints within the overall framework of CQ. These approaches are discussed in the context of a number of different models in the domains of speech generation and spelling.