{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,9]],"date-time":"2026-06-09T15:22:02Z","timestamp":1781018522710,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,17]],"date-time":"2025-07-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1752710400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003336","name":"National Science Fund","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["K\u03a0-06-\u03a0H77\/6"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["K\u03a0-06-\u03a0H77\/6"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003336","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Systems"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The cognitive cycle has been studied via cognitive architectures and by analyzing cognitive experiments. An emerging theoretical approach suggests that several automatic cognitive processes retrieve information, making it available to an internal agent, which in turn decides which information to access. Derived from this view, four phases of the cognitive cycle can be formulated and reproduced within a cognitive monitoring system. This exploratory work presents a new theory, Attention as Internal Action, and proposes a hypothesis about the relationship between an iteration of the cognitive cycle and a conscious motor action. The design of a continuous reaction time task is presented as a tool for quick cognitive evaluation. Via continuously provided user responses, the computational system behind the task adapts triggering stimuli based on the suggested hypothesis. Its software implementation was employed to assess whether a previously conducted simulation of the cognitive cycle\u2019s time range aligned with empirical data. A control group was assigned to perform a separate simple reaction time task in a sequence of five days. The analysis showed that the experimental cognitive monitoring system produced results more closely aligned with the established understanding of the timing of the cognitive cycle than the control task did.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/systems13070597","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,17]],"date-time":"2025-07-17T11:25:17Z","timestamp":1752751517000},"page":"597","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["A Monitoring System for Measuring the Cognitive Cycle via a Continuous Reaction Time Task"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-1466-1139","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Teodor","family":"Ukov","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Information Technologies in Industry, Faculty of Computer Systems and Technology, Technical University of Sofia, 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2442-8311","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Georgi","family":"Tsochev","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Information Technologies in Industry, Faculty of Computer Systems and Technology, Technical University of Sofia, 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Radoslav","family":"Yoshinov","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Telematics, Bulgarian Academy of Science, 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Madl, T., Baars, B.J., and Franklin, S. (2011). The Timing of the Cognitive Cycle. PLoS ONE, 6.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0014803"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Marks, D.F. (2023). The Action Cycle Theory of Perception and Mental Imagery. Vision, 7.","DOI":"10.31234\/osf.io\/5uxca"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"66","DOI":"10.1002\/hfm.20869","article-title":"Using the Perceptual Cycle Model and Schema World Action Research Method to Generate Design Requirements for New Avionic Systems","volume":"31","author":"Banks","year":"2021","journal-title":"Hum. Factors Erg. Manuf."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"909","DOI":"10.1080\/00140139.2014.991765","article-title":"The Process of Processing: Exploring the Validity of Neisser\u2019s Perceptual Cycle Model with Accounts from Critical Decision-Making in the Cockpit","volume":"58","author":"Plant","year":"2015","journal-title":"Ergonomics"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ukov, T., and Tsochev, G. (2025). Reviewing a Model of Metacognition for Application in Cognitive Architecture Design. Systems, 13.","DOI":"10.3390\/systems13030177"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ukov, T.G. (2025, July 01). Cognitive Monitoring of Learning as Experience via a Semiotic Framework for System Models. Available online: https:\/\/ssrn.com\/abstract=5081756.","DOI":"10.2139\/ssrn.5081756"},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Tsochev, G., and Ukov, T. (2024). Explaining Crisis Situations via a Cognitive Model of Attention. Systems, 12.","DOI":"10.3390\/systems12090364"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"23","DOI":"10.1142\/S1793843009000050","article-title":"Consciousness Is Computational: The LIDA Model of Global Workspace Theory","volume":"1","author":"Baars","year":"2009","journal-title":"Int. J. Mach. Conscious."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"43","DOI":"10.1080\/02643294.2023.2223918","article-title":"Competition in Context: Response Selection within the Supervisory Attentional System Model","volume":"40","author":"Markus","year":"2023","journal-title":"Cogn. Neuropsychol."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"176","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cogsys.2020.11.001","article-title":"Learning in LIDA","volume":"66","author":"Kugele","year":"2021","journal-title":"Cogn. Syst. Res."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"166","DOI":"10.1016\/S1364-6613(03)00056-1","article-title":"How Conscious Experience and Working Memory Interact","volume":"7","author":"Baars","year":"2003","journal-title":"Trends Cogn. Sci."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Marks, D.F. (2019). I Am Conscious, Therefore, I Am: Imagery, Affect, Action, and a General Theory of Behavior. Brain Sci., 9.","DOI":"10.20944\/preprints201904.0226.v1"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"80","DOI":"10.26599\/SAB.2022.9060033","article-title":"Association of Visual Conscious Experience Vividness with Human Cardiopulmonary Function","volume":"3","author":"Sun","year":"2023","journal-title":"Stress Brain"},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Franklin, S., and Baars, B.J. (2010). Two Varieties of Unconscious Processes. New Horizons in the Neuroscience of Consciousness, John Benjamins Publishing Company.","DOI":"10.1075\/aicr.79.14fra"},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Kronsted, C., Kugele, S., Neemeh, Z.A., Ryan, K.J., and Franklin, S. (2022). Embodied Intelligence: Smooth Coping in the Learning Intelligent Decision Agent Cognitive Architecture. Front. Psychol., 13.","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2022.846931"},{"key":"ref_16","unstructured":"Andrade, J. (2001). The Contribution ofWorking Memory toConscious Experience. Working Memory in Perspective, Psychology Press."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1310","DOI":"10.1098\/rstb.2011.0416","article-title":"Metacognition in Human Decision-Making: Confidence and Error Monitoring","volume":"367","author":"Yeung","year":"2012","journal-title":"Philos. Trans. R. Soc. B Biol. Sci."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"104471","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jml.2023.104471","article-title":"Atkinson and Shiffrin\u2019s (1968) Influential Model Overshadowed Their Contemporary Theory of Human Memory","volume":"136","author":"Wixted","year":"2024","journal-title":"J. Mem. Lang."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Gurney, K., Hussain, A., Chambers, J., and Abdullah, R. (2009). Controlled and Automatic Processing in Animals and Machines with Application to Autonomous Vehicle Control. Artificial Neural Networks\u2014ICANN 2009, Limassol, Cyprus, 14\u201317 September 2009, Springer.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-642-04274-4_21"},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"22","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neubiorev.2014.11.003","article-title":"Three Key Regions for Supervisory Attentional Control: Evidence from Neuroimaging Meta-Analyses","volume":"48","author":"Cieslik","year":"2015","journal-title":"Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"227","DOI":"10.1002\/9781119132363.ch16","article-title":"The Global Workspace Theory of Consciousness: Predictions and Results","volume":"16","author":"Baars","year":"2017","journal-title":"The Blackwell Companion to Consciousness"},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Marks, D.F. (2023). Phenomenological Studies of Visual Mental Imagery: A Review and Synthesis of Historical Datasets. Vision, 7.","DOI":"10.3390\/vision7040067"},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"697","DOI":"10.3390\/psychiatryint5040049","article-title":"Mental Imagery between Cognition and Emotion: A Narrative Review","volume":"5","author":"Boccaccio","year":"2024","journal-title":"Psychiatry Int."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"567","DOI":"10.1348\/000712699161639","article-title":"Consciousness, Mental Imagery and Action","volume":"90","author":"Marks","year":"1999","journal-title":"Br. J. Psychol."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"658","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1756-8765.2010.01085.x","article-title":"Computational Models of Performance Monitoring and Cognitive Control","volume":"2","author":"Alexander","year":"2010","journal-title":"Top. Cogn. Sci."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"927","DOI":"10.1007\/s00221-023-06575-z","article-title":"Covariation of the Amplitude and Latency of Motor Evoked Potentials Elicited by Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in a Resting Hand Muscle","volume":"241","author":"Vallence","year":"2023","journal-title":"Exp. Brain Res."},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Woods, D.L., Wyma, J.M., Yund, E.W., Herron, T.J., and Reed, B. (2015). Factors Influencing the Latency of Simple Reaction Time. Front. Hum. Neurosci., 9.","DOI":"10.3389\/fnhum.2015.00131"},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Lauridsen, M.M., Mikkelsen, S., Svensson, T., Holm, J., Kl\u00fcver, C., Gram, J., Vilstrup, H., and Schaffalitzky de Muckadell, O.B. (2017). The Continuous Reaction Time Test for Minimal Hepatic Encephalopathy Validated by a Randomized Controlled Multi-Modal Intervention-A Pilot Study. PLoS ONE, 12.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0185412"},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"846","DOI":"10.1093\/abm\/kaad015","article-title":"The Perceived Stress Scale as a Measure of Stress: Decomposing Score Variance in Longitudinal Behavioral Medicine Studies","volume":"57","author":"Harris","year":"2023","journal-title":"Ann. Behav. Med."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"197","DOI":"10.25046\/aj040226","article-title":"Computational and Technological Models of Cognitive Monitoring Systems","volume":"4","author":"Vodyaho","year":"2019","journal-title":"Adv. Sci. Technol. Eng. Syst. J."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ukov, T., and Tsochev, G. (2023). Application of Genetic Algorithms in the Multiplayer Video Game \u201cHram Light\u201d for Personal Qualities Training, AIP Publishing LLC.","DOI":"10.1063\/5.0178853"},{"key":"ref_32","first-page":"67","article-title":"Machine Learning Algorithm for Intelligent Bots in Multiplayer Video Game: A Case Study","volume":"14","author":"Ukov","year":"2022","journal-title":"Int. J. Inf. Technol. Secur."},{"key":"ref_33","first-page":"50","article-title":"Insights into Applying Artificial Intelligence Methods in Action Video Games for Enhancement of Psychomotor Skills","volume":"70","author":"Tsochev","year":"2024","journal-title":"Eng. Proc."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Tsochev, G., Ukov, T., Rusev, A., Sharabov, M., and Trifonov, R. (2024, January 13\u201315). Directing Analysis on Conducted Experiments for Researching the Effects of Training with A Video Game. Proceedings of the 2024 12th International Scientific Conference on Computer Science (COMSCI), Sozopol, Bulgaria.","DOI":"10.1109\/COMSCI63166.2024.10778494"},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"321","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-8721.2009.01660.x","article-title":"Increasing Speed of Processing With Action Video Games","volume":"18","author":"Dye","year":"2009","journal-title":"Curr. Dir. Psychol. Sci."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"703","DOI":"10.1108\/JOSM-12-2016-0318","article-title":"Flow Revisited: Process Conceptualization and a Novel Application to Service Contexts","volume":"29","author":"Drengner","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Serv. Manag."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"109","DOI":"10.1037\/0033-2909.126.1.109","article-title":"Intuition: A Social Cognitive Neuroscience Approach","volume":"126","author":"Lieberman","year":"2000","journal-title":"Psychol. Bull."},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"321","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cognition.2010.05.011","article-title":"Implicit Learning as an Ability","volume":"116","author":"Kaufman","year":"2010","journal-title":"Cognition"}],"container-title":["Systems"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2079-8954\/13\/7\/597\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,9]],"date-time":"2025-10-09T18:11:12Z","timestamp":1760033472000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2079-8954\/13\/7\/597"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,17]]},"references-count":38,"journal-issue":{"issue":"7","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,7]]}},"alternative-id":["systems13070597"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/systems13070597","relation":{},"ISSN":["2079-8954"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2079-8954","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,17]]}}}