2. Process naming rules

2.1 Process IDs

Every process has an identifier of the form hed_<slug>, where <slug> is a snake_case string. Examples: hed_response_inhibition, hed_visual_working_memory, hed_working_memory_updating.

The hed_ prefix is this catalog’s working identifier - it is a naming choice, not a claim about HED-schema membership. How (or whether) these IDs relate to the HED schema in the future is a separate, downstream decision.

Stability policy: During the current audit phase, IDs are explicitly provisional. They may change when a definition is refined, a near-duplicate is merged, or a better slug is chosen. Every rename must cascade atomically through process_details.json, task_details.json, and every derived file (task_names.json, process_task_index.json, process_task_crossref.md). Post-stability (after a declared freeze milestone), IDs are frozen: renames become aliases, and ID reassignment is a breaking change.

2.2 Process names

Process names use sentence case: the first word is capitalized, the remainder is lowercase except for proper nouns. Examples: “Associative learning”, “Working memory updating”, “Pavlovian conditioning”.

Process names do not end in “process” or “mechanism” unless those words are part of the established term (none currently do).

2.3 Process aliases

When multiple names exist for the same process, one is designated canonical (process_name) and the others are recorded in an aliases array. Each alias carries a name and an optional note explaining the terminological distinction or the reason for the merge. An alias is not a separate process - it fails the test of having a distinct When/Elicited/Measured triple.

The aliases field parallels the task-side aliases array: it captures alternative names that a researcher might search for, preserving the terminological or theoretical distinction without creating a separate process row. Aliases do not affect process counts, task linkage, or category membership.

Schema:

{
 "aliases": [
 {
 "name": "Operant conditioning",
 "note": "Skinnerian terminology; emphasizes the operant response and reinforcement schedules."
 }
 ]
}

Current resolved aliases:

Canonical	Alias(es)	Rationale
Instrumental conditioning	Operant conditioning	Skinnerian terminology; emphasizes reinforcement schedules. Merged.
Perspective taking	Mentalizing, Theory of mind	Mentalizing is the process verb (neuroimaging); Theory of mind is the capacity noun (developmental).
Word recognition	Visual word recognition	“Visual” is the default modality; auditory word recognition has its own name.
Risk processing	Risky decision making	Risk processing names the cognitive operation; risky decision making names the task class.
Emotion recognition	Emotion perception	Recognition is operationalized (identification of a named category); perception is broader.
Working memory updating	Updating, Updating (WM)	Merged; plain “Updating” was memory-context-underspecified.
Active maintenance	Maintenance	Generic term for holding information over a delay; merged into active maintenance.
Set shifting	Cognitive flexibility	Cognitive flexibility is a capacity-level construct that fails the single-answer inclusion test; set shifting is its primary experimental operationalization. Dropped as separate process.
Deductive reasoning	Logical reasoning	Logical reasoning is an umbrella over deductive + inductive; dropped as separate process.
Gustatory perception	Gustation	Renamed for consistency with other modality-perception rows.
Somatosensory perception	Somatosensation	Renamed for consistency with other modality-perception rows.
Sustained attention	Vigilance	Synonymous when operationalized as a continuous-performance measure.