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Installing Python ACT R

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githubjimmyd edited this page Mar 10, 2023 · 23 revisions

Install Python

To run Python ACT-R, you need to have Python 3 installed on your machine.

How do I dropdown?
This is how you dropdown.
Open a command Prompt on Windows
Hit the Windows key, then type cmd and hit Enter. This will bring up a command line interface.

Install Python 2 point something. It doesn't matter which version of Python you install, as long as it's two point something. When this page was written, we were using 2.7.5. Make sure you have Idle, which is a programming environment (for purposes of this tutorial).

If you have trouble installing Python, follow this link: https://docs.python-guide.org/starting/installation/

Downloading Python ACT-R

Make a folder on your hard drive for Python ACT-R. For safe backup, make sure it's in the cloud somewhere, like in your Dropbox folder.

Go to the github for Python ACT-R.
https://github.com/tcstewar/ccmsuite

Now you're going to download the zip file for the CCM Suite. CCM Stands for the "Common Cognitive Model."

  1. To do this, click the green “clone or download” button
  2. Select “download zip”
  3. Save it in the Python ACT-R folder you created.
  4. On Windows, right click this zip file and upzip it. A new folder will be created, Called ccmsuite-master.

Now Python ACT-R should be installed. Now we're going to make sure it works.

Downloading A Test Model

Then download a simple production system. (this tutorial uses version 2)
https://sites.google.com/site/pythonactr/tutorials/1---simple-production Save it to the ccmsuite-master folder.

Now you're going to open the simple production system in idle.

On a Mac

You can do this by either doing this:

  1. Navigating to the ccmsuite-master folder, then
  2. right-clicking (control click on mac) the file called Simple_production_v2.py, Or whatever the most recent version is.

or

  1. in idle, going to file/open and navigating to it.

Windows

  1. Open Idle
  2. file/open
  3. Navigate to Simple_production_v2.py
  4. And double-click

Hit f5 to run it. The result should look something like this:
Python 2.7.11 (v2.7.11:6d1b6a68f775, Dec 5 2015, 12:54:16)
[GCC 4.2.1 (Apple Inc. build 5666) (dot 3)] on darwin
Type "copyright", "credits" or "license()" for more information.
>>> WARNING: The version of Tcl/Tk (8.5.7) in use may be unstable.
Visit http://www.python.org/download/mac/tcltk/ for current information.

= RESTART: /Users/jimdavies/Desktop/ccmsuite-master/simple_production_v2.py =
0.000 agent.production_threshold None
0.000 agent.production_time_sd None
0.000 agent.production_match_delay 0
0.000 agent.production_time 0.05
0.000 agent.focus.chunk None
0.000 agent.focus.chunk goal:sandwich object:bread
0.000 agent.production bread_bottom
0.050 agent.production None
I have a piece of bread
0.050 agent.focus.chunk goal:sandwich object:cheese
0.050 agent.production cheese
0.100 agent.production None
I have put cheese on the bread
0.100 agent.focus.chunk goal:sandwich object:ham
0.100 agent.production ham
0.150 agent.production None
I have put ham on the cheese
0.150 agent.focus.chunk goal:sandwich object:bread_top
0.150 agent.production bread_top
0.200 agent.production None
I have put bread on the ham
I have made a ham and cheese sandwich
0.200 agent.focus.chunk goal:stop
0.200 agent.production stop_production
0.250 agent.production None
>>>

If you got a result that looks kind of like this, then you have successfully run python act-r.

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