Lets take a moment to think about how this process works operationally. Although the broad concept of mental models is gaining currency as a way to explore the link between how people. Cognitive processes are any mental activity that acquires, stores, transforms, reduces, elaborates, or uses. Mental models can also be defined as frameworks or meaning structures for describing the interrelationship between activities, objects and abstract items of knowledge in a persons mind, and can also involve prediction of future events johnsonlaird, 1983. To illustrate reasoning based on mental models, consider again the premises. A mental model is an explanation of someones thought process about how something works in the real world. Mental models in cognitive science wiley online library. The sets of towers represent a higherlevel group of the behaviors.
A defining feature of a mental model from a psychology perspective is that it is a computational structure rutherford and wilson 2004. Aurora harley is a senior user experience specialist with nielsen norman group. Likewise, when they understand a description of the world, they can construct a similar, albeit less rich, representationa mental model of the world based on the meaning of the description and. The purpose of this paper is to offer a robust definition of an individual mental model for use in organisational. Mental models are personal, internal representations of external reality that people use to. Either the market performs better or else i wont be able to retire. There have been several attempts to define mental models see. The principal data in the construction of mental models are the meanings of premises.
The construction of mental models of informationrich. Depending on which window a spectator looks out ofa metaphor for which mental model he uses to interpret the world around himhis mental representation of. It is a representation of the surrounding world, the relationships between its various parts and a persons intuitive perception about his or her own acts and their consequences. Context can activate a particular mental model, as illustrated in figure 3. The purpose of this paper is to offer a robust definition of an individual mental model for use. Pdf mental models in theory and practice researchgate. To be conscious is to be aware of the world around you and yourself in relation to the world. A mental model is a model that is constructed and simulated within a conscious mind. Development interventions can go wrong when policy designers have a faulty mental model of how a population will react to a program. We wanted to know which definition or body of theory we should. These representations of perceived reality explain cause and effect to us, and lead us to expect certain results, give meaning to events. What is the underlying concept shared by all references to mental model. Mental models include categories, concepts, identities, prototypes, stereotypes, causal narratives, and worldviews.
The windows provide partial views of an urban street. The towers in the diagrams represent group names for the behav iors within. Another widely recognized definition of mental model was proposed by. There is a controversy about the proper form of a psychologically adequate semantic theory that can be resolved by. The concept of a mental model has been described by theorists from diverse disciplines. Beliefs, ideas, images, and verbal descriptions that we consciously or unconsciously form from our experiences and which when formed guide our thoughts and actions within narrow channels. For example, supply and demand is a mental model that helps you understand how the economy works. Originalityvalue this paper produces a definition that is lucid, inclusive, and specific for mental model research and knowledge management in organisations.
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