Going Beyond Observable Actions A Cognition-Centered Approach to Interpreting Pauses Represented in Process Data

Pauses represented in process data captured from digital learning and assessment tasks are defined as the time elapsed between two subsequent events. Pauses are used as a marker of unobservable cognitive processes, such as encoding, problem-solving, and planning, that underlie test takers' subsequent observable actions in educational assessment. To make valid inferences about the underlying cognitive processes represented by pauses, we argue that applying a task-specific cognitive modeling approach is required. We discuss and demonstrate how to apply a task-specific, theoretical cognitive modeling approach for interpreting pauses. We believe that this approach will have value for educational researchers seeking to make valid, task-general inferences about test-taker cognition from pauses represented in process data.