Mental Models

Mental Models

Reviewed by Faisal Zaidi

Stored pictures of how things work that guide what a person notices and does.

What it is

A mental model is what a person believes about how a system works, built from past experience and applied to similar new situations. It guides what the person notices and what they do next.

In effect

In the article on the pseudo-environment, it is a close relative of the picture in the head: both describe conduct that follows a representation of the world and not the world itself.

What it does not say

It does not say that the picture is wrong, only that it is partial and shaped by experience. The article does not claim a measured size for the effect.

Sources

  1. Lippmann, W. Public Opinion.
  2. Tolman, E. C. (1948). Cognitive maps in rats and men. Psychological Review, 55(4), 189-208.