Semantic Transparency and Cognitive Modelling of Complex Performance

The simulation of human performance in situations involving interaction with complex technological interfaces highlights some key issues in cognitive modelling. This is illustrated in the behaviour of a pilot engaged in air combat. Modelling a pilot’s situation awareness requires an approach that provides for emotional and motivational processes as weil as sensori-motor and cognitive processes. This strategic decision raises the question of the type of representation to be employed. A response involves determining the relative roles of symbolic and sub-symbolic representation and, more specifically, the relative merits of rules and neural nets.