RPM FAQ
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What is ACT-R/PM?
ACT-R/PM is a set of extensions to ACT-R which provides perceptual-motor capabilities for ACT-R.

Should I use ACT-R or ACT-R/PM for my research project?
That depends. Since ACT-R/PM is really just an extended version of ACT-R, you will be using ACT-R either way. I woulddn't recommend diving into ACT-R/PM until you understand how ACT-R works. Then, I would only delve into ACT-R/PM if you are having trouble modeling your tasks with "vanilla" ACT-R. And, of course, only if you're having the kinds of troubles that ACT-R/PM is designed to address: parallelization of cogntion/perception/action within a task, variable mouse move times, eye-tracking results, etc.

Does ACT-R/PM require MCL? (That's Macintosh Common Lisp.)
Technically, no. All of the "core functionality" of ACT-R/PM is written in standard Common Lisp (with lots of CLOS) and should run under any ANSI- or CLtL2-compliant Common Lisp.

In fact, ACT-R/PM was written in MCL and runs best under MCL. But it doesn't require MCL and should run under any Common Lisp. However, certain nice extras (such as the ability to simulate clicks and "read" a window) work only in MCL. Similar facilities also exist for Allegro Common Lisp on the Windows side as well, though these are somewhat preliminary.

If you feel like implementing the appropriate methods for some other Lisp, like CMU CL under Linux or even better, for CLIM, that'd be great--please get in touch with me ASAP to work out what would need to be done.

Obviously, the FAQ still needs some work...

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Last modified 2002.05.30