Model-Based Approaches

Mental Models

The theory of mental models is based on the assumption that cognitive processing takes place through mental representations in which individuals organize symbolic representations of experience or thought that constitute a systematic representation of an experience or thought as a means of understanding it. To create plausibility, the individual constructs an internal model that both integrates the relevant semantic knowledge and meets the perceived requirements of the situation. This internal model is referred to as mental model.

Individuals construct mental models on the basis of retrievable knowledge to understand a given situation, task, or problem. These models work well when they fit with both the individual’s knowledge and the explanatory need regarding given phenomena to be mastered cognitively. By means of a mental model, an individual is also able to simulate real actions in imagination. Mental models allow one to judge the consequences of actions, interpret them, and draw appropriate conclusions.

Since the concept of mental models was introduced in the 1980s, proponents of schema theories have criticized it. They consider mental models as mere instantiations of local schemas but not as a discrete theoretical construct. Still, cognitive scientists agree on the point that schemas and mental models serve different cognitive functions. Schemas represent the generic and abstract knowledge acquired on the basis of manifold individual experiences with objects, persons, situations, and behaviors. As soon as a schema is fully developed, it can be applied immediately to assimilate information about new experiences. Mental models are constructed by individuals in the case of novel problems for which no schema can be retrieved from memory. In accordance with this argumentation, a theoretical model has been introduced that integrates the theoretical concepts of schemas and mental models into a more comprehensive architecture of cognition with the aim of explaining their mutually compensating cognitive functions (see Figure 1).

Figure 1 Cognitive architecture of mental models and schemas

Source: Ifenthaler, D., & Seel, N. M. (2011). A longitudinal perspective on inductive reasoning tasks. Illuminating the probability of change. Learning and Instruction, 21(4), 538–549. doi:10.1016/j.learninstruc.2010.08.004.

This architecture corresponds with Jean Piaget’s epistemology and the basic cognitive functions of assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation depends on the availability and activation of cognitive schemas, which allow new information to be integrated into already existing cognitive structures. If a schema does not fit immediately with the requirements of a new task, it can be adjusted to meet the new requirements by means of accretion, tuning, or reorganization. However, if such an adjustment is not successful, accommodation must take place before an individual’s knowledge concerning the construction of a mental model can be reorganized and structured. When no schema is available, a construction of a mental model occurs. Accordingly, an individual constructs a mental model that integrates relevant bits of knowledge into a coherent structure step by step to meet the requirements of a task or a problem.

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