Representational Issues in an Instance Theory of Automization

许多认知活动都是自动的，从这个意义上说，它们是快速而毫不费力地进行的，几乎不需要有意识的思考。自动处理为广泛的熟练行为提供了重要的基础，从感知-运动技能，如驾驶汽车，到高级认知技能，如国际象棋和数学。本研究项目针对如何获得自动加工进行了研究。对自动性本质的理解对教育、工业和军事训练计划的设计具有重要意义。该项目涉及洛根在过去几年中一直在开发的自动化理论。该理论假设，自动处理的基础是直接从记忆中检索过去的解，而不需要任何额外的计算。自动化包括从基于通用算法的处理过渡到基于记忆提取的处理。这一想法在儿童简单加法技能的获得中得到了很好的说明：他们从一种通用的计数算法开始，这种算法允许他们将任意两个数字相加，但在充分暴露之后，他们记住了基本事实，并直接从记忆中检索和，而不进行计数。洛根过去的研究表明，这种学习机制可以定量地解释伴随自动化而来的处理速度的提高和变异性的减少，这是关于自动化的文献中最健壮的现象。这个项目将更直接地考察学习过程，调查人们在发展自主性的过程中获得的各种心理表征。

Many cognitive activities are automatic, in the sense that they are performed quickly and effortlessly, with little conscious thought. Automatic processing provides an important basis for a wide range of skilled behavior, from perceptual-motor skills, such as driving a car, to high-level cognitive skills, such as chess and mathematics. This research project addresses how automatic processing is acquired. Understanding of the nature of automaticity has implications for the design of training programs in education, industry, and the military. The project concerns a theory of automatization that Logan has been developing over the past few years. The theory assumes that automatic processing is based on retrieving past solutions directly from memory, without any additional computation. Automatization involves a transition from processing based on a general algorithm to processing based on memory retrieval. The idea is well illustrated in children's acquisition of skill at simple addition: They begin with a general counting algorithm, which allows them to add any two numbers, but after sufficient exposure, they memorize the basic facts and retrieve sums directly from memory without counting. Logan's past research has shown that this learning mechanism can account quantitatively for the increase in speed of processing and reduction in variability that accompanies automatization, which are the most robust phenomena in the literature on automaticity. This project will examine the learning process more directly, investigating the kinds of mental representations people acquire as they develop automaticity.