Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society

While a number of disciplines have empirically investigated self-control (e.g., psychology, cognitive science, and sociology), along with philosophy, they have offered differing (although sometimes overlapping) perspectives. A process-based, mechanistic theory explaining empirical self-control data can help integrate these perspectives. A mechanistic (computational) approach through a computational cognitive architecture where simulations can be performed may unify the interpretations of empirical studies based on various (e.g., implicit-explicit) conflicts as well as utility calculation (e.g., from motivational considerations). Such a framework facilitates simulations that account for human data and capture notions of self-control capacity and control fatigue/reduction, facilitating detailed explanations.