Computer Model Can Predict Human Behavior And Learning

A computer model that can predict how people will complete a controlled task and how the knowledge needed to complete that task develops over time.  Frank Ritter, associate professor of IST and psychology, and his research associates, used the Soar programming language, which is designed to represent human knowledge, on a 20-trial circuit troubleshooting task most recently done by 10 students at the University of Nottingham, UK.  In most cases, the model came within two to four seconds of predicting how long it would take each participant to solve the problem and it fit eight out of the 10 participants' problem-solving times very well. 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081107143755.htm