The 2011 Benjamin Franklin Medal in computer and cognitive science presented to John R. Anderson

John R. Anderson is an international leader in the computational representation and simulation of human cognition. He is credited as having developed the first “cognitive architecture”—a computational framework for specifying both the abilities and limitations of human behavior. Anderson has also made fundamental contributions in applying cognitive architectures to practical problems, most notably in the development of intelligent tutoring systems: computer-based tutors that continually infer the cognitive state of the student, striving to determine what the student knows and does not know, and targeting further instruction accordingly. For these achievements, Anderson was awarded the 2011 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Computer and Cognitive Science.