Hypertext navigation and conflicting goal intentions: Using log files to study distraction and volitional protection in learning and problem solving

Overview & Synopsis

This paper describes a theoretical analysis and experimental investigation of difficulty related distraction by conflicting goal intentions in learning and problem solving with hypertext. Log files are used to capture hypertext navigation in the face of opportunities to implement competing goal intentions. We study how differences in task difficulty influence the volitional protection of the current goal intention. First attempts to integrate volitional processes of action control into cognitive architectures are presented.