Pose: phase I: toward an open-source ecosystem for the adaptive control of thought-rational (act-R) computational cognitive architecture

Carnegie Mellon University received a $299,138 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships program (CFDA 47.084), awarded August 15, 2025, with completion targeted for July 31, 2026. The award supports Phase I of the Pathways to Enable Open-Source Ecosystems (POSE) initiative focused on developing an open-source ecosystem (OSE) for the Adaptive Control of Thought-Rational (ACT-R) computational cognitive architecture. The project aims to expand the accessibility and usability of ACT-R, currently recognized as the most successful cognitive architecture for unified theories of cognition, by addressing limitations in its current funding, development, and user community support models. The resulting OSE will enable broader adoption of high-fidelity computational cognitive models among engineers, programmers, human factors practitioners, and researchers across cognitive science, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, and the social sciences.

The project deliverables include foundational research and ecosystem design work to sustain long-term development and expansion of ACT-R as an open-source platform. Sub-awards to the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) and the University of Washington's Office of Sponsored Programs support collaborative exploration of governance structures, technical infrastructure, and community engagement strategies necessary to transition ACT-R toward a sustainable open-source model. By establishing this ecosystem, the project positions ACT-R to facilitate human-machine teaming applications, advance AI competitiveness through unified cognitive theories, and enable development of intelligent systems that integrate more naturally with human workers, ultimately enhancing national leadership in cognitive science and artificial intelligence innovation.

Abstract

The broader impacts of this pathways to enable open-source ecosystems (POSE) project will be to improve understanding of the human mind by broadening access to a unifying computational framework for modeling human cognition. This framework will then serve as a foundation for cumulative scientific progress across cognitive science, neuroscience, artificial intelligence (AI), and the social sciences. By creating this platform, high-fidelity computational cognitive models of human behavior will become available to a widening group of engineers, programmers, and human factors practitioners. Integrating this technology into current technology infrastructures could positively impact many fields of human activity. Using cognitive models to facilitate human-machine teaming would provide a competitive advantage by enabling a faster, more productive integration of AI tools into the workforce. Unified theories of cognition could extend national leadership in AI by providing the scientific basis for the next generation of robots and intelligent agents. Everyone in society could benefit in the form of smarter systems that work more naturally with humans, resulting in increased satisfaction and productivity. This pathways to enable open-source ecosystems (POSE) project aims to develop an open-source ecosystem (OSE) to sustain the development and expansion of the adaptive control of thought-rational (act-R) cognitive architecture. Computational cognitive architectures implementing unified theories of cognition have become increasingly mature and accurate in capturing human behavior. Act-R is currently recognized as the most successful cognitive architecture; however, its current model for funding, developing, and supporting the user community fundamentally limits its reach. The primary objective of the project is to explore how to expand the user base from cognitive science researchers into a self-sustaining ecosystem comprised of people from all fields interested in human and artificial cognition, including systems neuroscience, AI, robotics, social sciences, and systems design. The ecosystem discovery and scoping activities include one-on-one interviews and a series of interactive workshops with interested scientists and engineers to gauge their interest, understand their needs, and assess relevant risks. The information gathered will be used to develop a new model of organization and governance for the OSE that would support broadening the scientific basis of the act-R cognitive architecture and expand its user base beyond its current community. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.- subawards are planned for this award.