What is a Cognitive Process Model? A Review and Disambiguation

Jana Jarecki, Jolene H. Tan, Mirjam A. Jenny

The growing significance given to process models in cognitive science reflects the need to meet the demands posed by the cognitive revolution and is fueled by the developments in computational power and formal training. A wide variety of models were proposed as process models and working definitions of the term are equally numerous. In this paper we provide a general theoretical framework for cognitive process models irrespective of their formal specifications. A review of the properties of information processing models shows that the scientific concept of process models rests on intuitions about their form and content. Those suggest process models as antithetic to as-if models, antithetic to rational models, include simple operations, stochastic processing, continuous time, or ordered time. The first half of the paper examines these intuitions as generalizable properties for cognitive process models. In the second half, we suggest a four-dimensional characterization of a generic process model which transcends the six intuitions and previous notions, like Marr’s algorithmic level. To illustrate the use of the framework, we apply it to one decision-making model. Our framework may provide researchers with dimensions on which to compare process models, it can be used as checklist to qualify new models as process model, it helps scholars when building new cognitive process models, and it may advance currently unresolved debates about model types.