Level

Specification

Name

What we know at this level

Example:      A     Person      in      a

Conversation

0

Observation Frame

How to stimulate the system with inputs; what variables to measure and how to observe them over a time base;

The person has inputs and outputs at the usual cognitive level, such as

streams of words 

1

I/O Behavior

Time-indexed data collected from a source system; consists of input/output pairs

For each input that the person recognizes, the set of possible outputs that the person can produce

2

I/O Function

Knowledge of initial state; given an initial state, every input stimulus produces a unique output.

Assuming knowledge of the person’s initial state when starting the conversation, the unique output response to each input.

3

State Transition

How states are affected by inputs; given a state and an input what is the state after the input stimulus is over; what output event is generated by a state.

How the person transits from state to state under input words and generates output words from the current state

4

Coupled

Component

Components and how they are coupled together. The components can be specified at lower levels or can even be structure systems themselves – leading to hierarchical structure.

A description of a person’s I/O behavior in terms of neural components and their interaction by spikes is at this level.