Semiotics and mental models: modeling automobile driver behavior

The driver is a semiotic system that interprets and responds to sensory input according to a context. This context is provided by a mental model-an internal representation employed to encode, predict, evaluate, and communicate the consequences of perceived and intended changes to the operator's current state within the dynamic environment. Having constructed computational models of skill-based control, we develop the framework of multiple coordinating mental models via rule-based task switching and present preliminary empirical efforts at identifying and coordinating multiple mental models for human-based car following behavior.