Knowledge-based control of cognition and action

熟练的认知行为，如阅读文字、识别物体或使用工具，都是由多种相互冲突的心理表征支撑的。例如，一个咖啡杯提供了许多不同的，相互排斥的抓握（例如，把手上的闭合抓握，杯身周围的打开抓握，甚至是边缘上的捏握），与杯子的交互需要选择一个抓握而不是其他抓握。这种选拔是如何进行的，对未被选拔的候选人有什么后果？我的研究计划的目的是揭示基于知识的影响，唤起候选人的行动，并决定选择过程的结果。我的方法是由两个可行的假设指导的。首先，在任务执行过程中，无意识地吸收了对相关先前经验（包括一般知识）的记忆，形成了熟练表现的基础。第二，任务情境影响这些知识的招募和选择。在一系列任务领域中，通常涉及单词阅读、对象识别或句子理解，将应用四种测量熟练动作组成部分的方法：(1)快速识别或分类反应（例如，尽可能快地识别物体）；(2)使用特殊构造的反应装置进行的手部动作，该反应装置可容纳一系列关节手势（例如，在相关或不相关物体的背景下执行提示的手部动作）；(3)在观察者观看视觉显示时跟踪眼球运动（例如，在自然场景的图片中搜索目标物体）；(4)利用附着在手指和手上的传感器来记录手的形状和位置的细节，因为观察者可以快速到达和抓住反应。这项研究将提供关于概念知识和动作表征如何支持熟练表现的重要信息，并将有助于更深入地理解阅读和物体识别方面的选择性障碍，这些障碍通常伴随着特定形式的脑损伤。

Skilled cognitive actions, such as reading words, identifying objects, or using a tool, are underpinned by multiple mental representations that often are in conflict with one another. For example, a coffee mug affords a number of different, mutually exclusive grasps (e.g., a closed grasp on the handle, an open grasp around the barrel of the mug, or even a pinch grasp on the rim) and interaction with the mug requires that one grasp be selected over the others for execution. How does this selection occur and what are the consequences for the candidates that are not selected? The objective of my research program is to reveal the knowledge-based influences that evoke candidate actions and determine the outcome of the selection process. My approach is guided by two working hypotheses. First, memory for relevant prior experience, including general knowledge, is unconsciously recruited during task execution, forming the basis for skilled performance. Second, task context influences the recruitment and selection of this knowledge. Across a range of task domains, typically involving word reading, object identification, or sentence comprehension, four methods of measuring components of skilled actions will be applied: (1) speeded identification or classification responses (e.g., identifying objects as quickly as possible), (2) hand actions performed using a specially constructed response apparatus that accommodates a range of articulated hand postures (e.g., performing a cued hand action in the context of a related or unrelated object), (3) tracking eye movements as an observer views a visual display (e.g., searching a picture of a natural scene for a target object), and (4) using sensors attached to fingers and hands to record details of hand shape and position as observers make rapid reach and grasp responses. This research will provide important information about how conceptual knowledge and action representations support skilled performance and will contribute to a deeper understanding of selective impairments in reading and object identification that often accompany specific forms of brain damage.