Unified Theories of Cognition: Tasking

Tasking is the function of setting a task to be performed. This task cannot be set by an impasse occurring, since the system is already at the top level. Thus, tasking must occur by an operator being selected in BLS that augments the current state so that both comprehend and intend can know what to do. This operator and the search control that proposes it must be a part of the system's long-term memory. There is, therefore, a question of how such operators got created and established in the first place. Pursuing this would take us far from immediate behavior. The answer for most immediate-response tasks is in terms of prior instructions and preparation. But additional questions lie behind that answer, such as why the person accepted the instructions.

For immediate-response tasks, it is always possible to perform the tasking operator prior to the presentation of the stimulus. In fact, doing so is a necessary part of being prepared -- that the person knows exactly what to do and only must execute the task. We might have put T as the initial function to be performed, rather than after C. In general, however, the task to be attempted is evoked by what is comprehended about the environmental situation, so it seemed better to indicate the general situation and not imply that the task is always set ahead of time. In any case, T will not show up in any critical-time paths and it effectively drops out of the analysis, even though it is an essential function for accomplishing a complete task.