Rapid Prototyping of Event-Driven Contextual Memory in the ACT-Up Cognitive Architecture

2026-06-26

AI Summary

This work addresses the challenge of integrating contextual memory and event-driven mechanisms into the ACT-Up cognitive architecture while preserving its scalability and rapid prototyping capabilities, and simultaneously lowering the barrier to entry for users. The authors propose a theoretically neutral implementation of contextual memory that combines event handlers, working memory, spreading activation, and associative learning modules, augmented with generative AI to automatically construct cognitive experiments from the methods sections of research papers. The system successfully replicates the contiguity effect observed in Klein et al.'s (2005) serial memory task and demonstrates modeling validity across three recall conditions, significantly enhancing both the efficiency and usability of ACT-Up for cognitive modeling.

Abstract

The present paper describes an implementation of contextual memory and a basic event-handler for the ACT-Up cognitive architecture which maintains its scalability and appropriateness for rapid-prototyping while adding essential features and lowering the barrier to entry for new users. This includes describing a theory-neutral implementation of working memory and spreading activation, in addition to a basic associative learning mechanism. An example of rapid prototyping for algorithm development is presented using the serial memory task described in Klein, Addis, and Kahana (2005). This study describes how contiguity effects change across sequential list presentations across three serial and free recall conditions. We further describe how to use generative AI and the event handler to automatically create cognitive experiments directly from the Methods section of research papers.

Problem

• rapid prototyping
• contextual memory
• event-driven
• cognitive architecture
• generative AI

Innovation

• event-driven
• contextual memory
• rapid prototyping
• generative AI
• ACT-Up cognitive architecture