webPic email

Jose Quesada's personal page

Department of Psychology

Sussex University

Interests

Publications

Brief CV

Personal

Interests

    Computational modeling of semantics

    During my stay in Colorado, I worked with profs. Kintsch and Landauer on Latent semantic Analysis (LSA), developing technologies to assist intelligence agents to process large amounts of textual information, to automatically grade essays, to assess and promote vocabulary development and to model how users interact with websites. I also worked with Simon Dennis on his syntacmatic-paradigmatic (SP) model, that tries to learn both syntax and semantics from natural corpora.

    Problem solving

    One paradox in the current literature of problem solving is the origin of problem spaces. If all intelligent behavior takes place in a problem space, and the creation of a problem space is intelligent behavior, then we are trapped in a recursive definition. In my work on problem solving a possible solution is presented: that problem spaces can be created in a bottom-up way automatically from experience by a mechanism that may be shared with language learning. This is a corpus based approach to representation in problem solving. I have tested this theory in different complex dynamic tasks. Applications of this proposal to real-word complex, dynamic tasks, such as flying simulators have been shown to be possible.

    Judgment and decision making

    I'm working with Neil Stewart, Nick Chater and Gordon Brown testing and extending their Decision by Sampling theory, which accounts for key phenomena in the domains of decision under risk, trade off between attributes, and temporal discounting.

    Attentional switch cost

    I'm interested in how people change their attention between two or more tasks, and what costs are associated with this change. With Emilio Gomez Milan, we have tried to study this classical effect in different situations, including complex, realistic ones such as high fidelity flying simulators.

    Analogy

    Most current work on analogy uses propositional representations. I'm interested in how to derive representations automatically from text that can be used in high-level cognition processes such as analogy. Our current model (in preparation) can solve SAT analogy questions at around the same level as the average human. With Praful Mangalath and Walter Kintsch

    Contextual Diversity

    'No single variable has been studied more in psycholinguistics and memory research than word frequency' Balota et al (2001). However, according to the results in our lab, it seems that it is contextual diversity, not word frequency what drives several effects such as naming, lexical decision, and surprisingly enough even human frequency judgments. With James Adelman, Nick Chater and Gordon Brown.

    Mental number line

    The dual-representation theory (e.g., Siegler and Opher, 2003) proposes that children have both a logarithmic and linear mental number representation, and that they transition from log to linear as they grow. In my work with professor Jane Oakhill, we present an alternative theory where the mental number representation is always linear, but at early ages the line is misaligned with y=x (perfect number perception). With age, children’s slope and intercept get closer to 1 and 0 respectively. grant proposal PDF

Publications

2006, in press

    Quesada, J., Adelman, J. S., Chater, N. (in press) Situational Frequency Judgments are Influenced by Contextual Diversity. In Proceedings of the 2006 meeting of the cognitive Science society. (PDF)

    Quesada, J. (in press) Creating your own LSA space. In T. Landauer, D. McNamara, S. Dennis & W. Kintsch (Eds). Latent Semantic analysis: A road to meaning. Erlbaum. (PDF)

    Quesada, J. (in press) Spaces for problem solving. In T. Landauer, D. McNamara, S. Dennis & W. Kintsch (Eds). Latent Semantic analysis: A road to meaning. Erlbaum. (PDF)

    Adelman J. S., Brown, G. D. A., and Quesada, J. (in press) Contextual Diversity Not Word Frequency Determines Word Naming and Lexical Decision Times. (psychological science). (PDF)

    Torralbo, A., Milan, E.G., González, A. & Quesada, J. (submitted). Priority instruction effects in the magnitude of residual cost with regular task switching.Acta Psychologica. (PDF)

    Milan, E.G., Tornay F., González, A. & Quesada,J. (submitted). Response repetition in task set switch. Acta Psychologica. (PDF)

    Quesada, J., Kintsch, W., and Gomez E. (submitted) Latent Problem- Solving Analysis: A computational theory of representation in experienced problem solving. Cognitive Science.

    Milan, E. G., Tornay, F. J., Quesada, J. F. and Hochel, M. (2006) Response repetition in task shift Cognitiva, 18 (2), 000-000 (PDF)

2005

    Quesada, J., Kintsch, W., and Gomez E. (2005) Complex Problem Solving: A field in search for a definition? Theoretical issues in Ergonomic Science , 6 (1), p. 5-33 (PDF)

    Quesada, J., Chater, N., Otto, P., and Gonzalez, C. (2005) An explanation of decoy effects without assuming numerical attributes. Proceedings of the 27th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society. Chicago Lawrence Erlbaum Associates (PDF)

2004

    Mangalath, P., Quesada, J., & Kintsch, W. (2004). Analogy-making as Predication Using Relational Information and LSA Vectors. In K. D. Forbus, D. Gentner & T. Regier (Eds.), Proceedings of the 26th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society. Chicago: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 0-8058-4991-2 (PDF)

2003

    Quesada, J. F., Kintsch, W., & Gomez, E. (2003). Latent Problem Solving Analysis as an explanation of expertise effects in a complex, dynamic task. In R. Alterman & D. Kirsh (Eds.), Proceedings of the 25th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. Boston, MA. 0-8058-4581-X (PDF)

    Quesada, J. F., Kintsch, W., & Gomez, E. (2003). Automatic Landing Technique Assessment using Latent Problem Solving Analysis. In R. Alterman & D. Kirsh (Eds.), Proceedings of the 25th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. Boston, MA. 0-8058-4581-X (PDF)

    Gonzalez, C. and Quesada, J.(2003) Learning in a Dynamic Decision Making Task: The Recognition Process. Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory, 9 (4), p. 287 - 304 (PDF)

    Canas, J.J., Quesada, J.F. Antoli, A., and Fajardo, I. (2003) Cognitive flexibility and adaptability to environmental changes in dynamic complex problem solving tasks. Ergonomics, 46(5), 482-501. (PDF)

2002

    Quesada, J., Kintsch, W., and Gomez E. (2002) A theory of Complex Problem Solving using Latent Semantic Analysis. In W. D. Gray & C. D. Schunn (Eds.) Proceedings of the 24th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society Fairfax, VA. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, NJ. pp. 750-755 0-8058-4581-X (PDF)

2001

    Quesada, J.F, Kintsch, W. and Gomez, E. (2001) A Computational Theory of Complex Problem Solving Using the Vector Space Model (part II): Latent Semantic Analysis Applied to Empirical Results from Adaptation Experiments.In Canas (Ed.) Cognitive research with Microworlds, pp. 147-158 (PDF)

    Quesada, J.F, Kintsch, W. and Gomez, E. (2001) A Computational Theory of Complex Problem Solving Using the Vector Space Model (part I): Latent Semantic Analysis, Through the Path of Thousands of Ants. In Canas, J. J. (Ed.) Cognitive research with Microworlds, pp. 117-131 (PDF)

    Canas, J. J., Antoli, A., and Quesada, J. F.(2001). The role of working memory on measuring mental models of physical systems. Psicologica,Volume 22, Number 1 pp. 25-42 (PDF)

2000

    Quesada, J.F., Canas, J.J. and Antoli, A. (2000). An explanation of human errors based on environmental changes and problem solving strategies. In P. Wright, S. Dekker, and C.P. Warren (Eds.) ECCE-10: Confronting Reality. Sweden: EACE. ISBN: 91-7219-828-1 (PDF)

    Canas, J.J., Antolí, A. y Quesada, J.F. (2000) Memoria y Modelos Mentales. Anthropos, vol. 189/190, pp. 143-149

1999

    Cañas, J. J., Quesada, J, and Antolí, A. (1999) Flexibilidad del conocimiento implícito. Implicit Knowledge flexibility. Psicothema, volume II, nº 4, pp. 910 - 915. (PDF)

Brief CV

Education

By year

    96 - 97: Research Grant at Department of Social Psychology and Methodology, University of Granada, Spain.
    Subject: formal models of Collaboration: Iterated prisoner's dilemma with memory retrieval.

    97 - 98: Research at Department of Experimental Psychology and Physiology of Behavior, University of Granada, Spain. Subject: Why are human errors made by skilled people? Evidence from dynamic, complex tasks in real time.

    Research project: New trends in leadership and decision making: BOJA 130 pp. 14961 (dec, 5, 1998)

    99 - 00 Working with the GENEURA team on the Mercury project Mercury (Mercurio) was a personalized news service on the internet, based on information selection by inferring user preferences from their past choices. We were using Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) to match users' profiles with newspapers news, under a Research grant on the topic of Personalized news: BOJA 25 pp. 2484 (Feb, 27, 1999).

    2001 Consultant for Knowledge Analysis Technologies

    00 - 03 Research associate at the University of Colorado, Boulder, with Professors Thomas Landauer and Walter Kintsch, working on some extensions and new applications of the Latent Semantic Analysis theory (LSA): (1) Statistical models of language comprehension and representation of meaning that include word order and (2) Statistical models of problem solving in complex, dynamic tasks that use a vector space empirically induced from experience as the problem space (Latent Problem Solving Analysis, LPSA

    03 -04 Postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Social and Decision Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University. I worked with Coty Gonzalez at The Dynamic Decision Making Laboratory (DDMLab)

    04 -05 Working as Postdoctoral fellow at the Psychology Department, Warwick University. Working with Nick Chater

    05 -06 Postdoctoral fellow at Sussex university, working with Jane Oackhill on cognitive representation in word problem solving.

Grants and Awards

    The experiments performed using flying simulators were possible thanks to the research grant HPRI-CT-1999-00105 – Quesada, J.F., (P.I.), and Gomez E. (coP.I.): “Automatic landing technique assessment using latent problem solving analysis (LPSA)”, under the fifth framework program of the European Community - Access to Research Infrastructure action of the Improving Human Potential Program, contract with the National Aerospace Laboratory, NLR (Holland). 01/07/01 - 01/07/02

    I was also supported by other Grants from the National Science Foundation:

    NSF/ITR: REC-0115419 - Kintsch, W., Landauer T., Caccamise, D., Cole, R., "ITR/PE: Latent Semantic Analysis Theory and Technology,", NSF, 09/01/01 - 08/31/06.

    NSF/IERI: EIA-0121201 - Kintsch, W., Caccamise, D., Cole, R., Olson, R., Snyder, L., "IERI: Scalable and Sustainable Technologies for Reading Instruction and Assessment,", NSF, 07/01/01 - 06/26/06

    I'm currently funded by an ESRC postdoctoral fellowship (at Warwick University).

Examples of my web experiments