Mental Models Framework Research Articles

HAZMAT Technician-level Emergency Response: A Mental Model Framework for Radiological Dispersal Device (RDD) Incidents.

This research examines the cognitive frameworks used by HAZMAT technicians when responding to incidents involving Radiological Dispersal Devices (RDDs), which are conventional explosive devices with radioactive materials incorporated. The objective is to introduce the Expected Mental Model State (EMMS) as a comprehensive evaluation tool for assessing and enhancing the expertise and situational awareness of emergency responders dealing with radiation crises. Through a series of expert focus group sessions using the well-established qualitative methodology of grounded theory, an Expected Mental Model State (EMMS) was developed. The methodology used an influence diagram architecture to conceptually capture and codify key areas relevant to effective emergency response. The research identifies fourteen EMMS key conceptual domains, further elaborated into 301 subtopics, providing a multi-dimensional structure for the proposed mental model framework. Three pivotal notions of mental model emerged within the EMMS framework: Knowledge Topology, Envisioning (Belief), and Response and Operability. These notions were found to align with previous theories of mental models and are vital for understanding how HAZMAT technicians conceptualize and respond to RDD incidents. The study emphasizes the critical role of mental models in enhancing preparedness and effective response strategies during radiation emergencies. The EMMS framework offers a versatile methodology that can be adapted across various kinds of emergency responders and high-risk situations, including the broader Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) spectrum. Using this EMMS framework to develop an EMMS Diagnostic Matrix can provide a roadmap for identifying areas for the development of specialized training modules that have the potential to significantly elevate both the quality and efficacy of responder training and preparation.

Critical misconceptions and knowledge gaps regarding alcohol cessation and risk of relapse in alcohol-related liver disease patients: A qualitative mental models study

IntroductionDespite the mortality benefits of alcohol cessation and alcohol treatment, few patients with alcohol-related liver disease (ALD) get such treatment. To understand reasons for low treatment rates, we performed a qualitative mental models study to explore how ALD patients understand factors influencing alcohol cessation, relapse and their liver health. MethodsUsing a mental models framework, we interviewed experts in alcohol use disorder (AUD) and ALD to determine factors influencing alcohol cessation, risk of relapse and liver health. An expert influence diagram was constructed and used to develop a patient interview guide. We recruited participants with ALD enrolled in hepatology or transplant clinics at a single tertiary-care center. We conducted interviews either face-to-face or by phone, per participant preference. We transcribed all interviews verbatim and analyzed them using combined deductive coding schema based on both the interview guide and emergent coding. Results25 (10 women, 15 men) participants with a mean age of 57 years completed interviews. 68 % had decompensated cirrhosis. Major omissions included gender (as a factor in alcohol use or liver disease) and the influence of benzodiazepines/opioids on relapse. Misconceptions were common, in particular the idea that the absence of urges to drink meant participants were safe from relapse. Conceptual differences from the expert model emerged as well. Participants tended to view the self as primary and the only thing that could influence relapse in many cases, resulting in a linear mental model with few nodes influencing alcohol cessation. Participants' risky drinking signals (i.e., elevated liver enzymes) differed from known definitions of hazardous or high-risk drinking, which largely emphasize dose of alcohol consumed irrespective of consequences. Finally, participants sometimes viewed stopping on one's own as the primary means of stopping alcohol use, not recognizing the many other nodes in the influence diagram impacting ability to stop alcohol. ConclusionPatients with ALD had critical misconceptions, omissions, and conceptual reorganizations in their mental models of the ability to stop alcohol use. Attention to these differences may allow clinicians and researchers to craft more impactful interventions to improve rates of alcohol abstinence and AUD treatment engagement.

Drinking Water Utility-Level Understanding of Climate Change Effects to System Reliability.

Climate change hazards, including increased temperatures, drought, sea level rise, extreme precipitation, wildfires, and changes in freeze-thaw cycles, are expected to degrade drinking water utility system infrastructure and decrease the reliability of water provision. To assess how drinking water utility manager perceptions of these risks affect utility planning, 60 semistructured interviews were conducted with utilities of various sizes, source water supplies, and United States geographical regions. This study analyzes these interviews (1) to evaluate which climate hazards are of primary concern to drinking water managers, (2) to develop a mental model framework for assessing utility-level understanding of climate change risks to system reliability, and (3) to examine the status of current water utility adaptation planning. The results show that concern and awareness of climate hazard risks vary geographically and are grounded in historical exposure; some participants do not believe climate change will influence their system's overall reliability. When considering climate change risks, utility managers tend to focus on effects to water supply and infrastructure, as opposed to changes in operations and maintenance, water quality, or business functions. Most surveyed utilities do not have comprehensive climate adaptation plans despite federal and professional recommendations. The range of beliefs and actions concerning climate adaptation planning indicates that utilities need directed guidance, and policymakers should consider including climate hazards and projections as part of required utility risk and resilience assessments.

Mental models and engineering education: a literature review

Mental model is a term that has been discussed in three contexts: (1) how mental models are understood in cognitive psychology, (2) how learners learn in science subjects, and (3) how people solve practical problems. Since mental models have been discussed in different contexts, this paper aims to conduct an integrative literature review that analyzes the materials published on mental models and their relevance for engineering education. The outcome of the review is a conceptual framework of mental models for engineering education with two highlights. First, mental models can help characterize learners’ (mis-)understanding of scientific concepts and technical systems. Second, mental models are of practical use when learners are engaged in some problem-solving tasks. In turn, mental models have a potential to support deep learning and project-based learning.

“Something with a Frightening Reputation”: 60 Minutes’ Accommodation of HIV in Gene Therapy for Sickle Cell Disease

On March 10, 2019, 60 Minutes reported the development of a potentially life-altering gene therapy for Sickle Cell Disease (SCD). Despite this therapy’s potential for cure, SCD community members’ reactions ranged from skepticism to fear due to the use of deactivated HIV as a vector for transporting the corrected gene into stem cells, thus repairing the faulty gene in SCD. Using a mental models framework, we analyze how 60 Minutes attempted to explain this research and how audiences reacted on social media. Specifically, we show how 60 Minutes’ treatment of given versus new information, as well as the journalists’ failure to account for the specific audiences with the most at stake, led to misunderstandings that contributed to ongoing fear and mistrust of the scientific community. We conclude with recommendations for how journalists should approach accommodating science when that science has particular impacts on minoritized and marginalized groups.

Connecting the Dots: Pain Mental Models of Spousal Caregivers of Veterans with Dementia and Pain

Abstract Pain is prevalent among persons with dementia (PWDs), yet often goes underrecognized and undertreated. Exploring caregivers’ pain mental models may provide valuable insight into how they conceptualize pain, and how such conceptualizations affect their identification of and response to PWDs’ pain. We identified and described the pain mental model(s) of spousal caregivers of community-dwelling veterans with dementia and pain through a secondary qualitative thematic analysis of recordings of a psychosocial intervention aimed at preventing aggression in PWDs with pain. Thirty female spousal caregivers (11 Black, 10 non-Hispanic White, and 9 Hispanic) comprised the present sample. Two themes were identified: Pain Assessment Beliefs and Knowledge (PA) and Pain Management Beliefs and Knowledge (PM). In our proposed mental model framework, PA and PM affect the ways caregivers answer two PA-related questions (Is there a problem?, Is this problem pain?) and three PM-related questions (Is the pain treatable?, Is it worth treating?, How do I prefer to treat it?). Caregivers are moved to action when they “connect the dots” by identifying a problem in PWDs’ behavior, labeling the problem as pain, and identifying a response (i.e., a treatment approach) they consider worth trying. Disconnects in caregiver understanding of PWDs’ behavior are common in this sample, and predictably lead to inaction. The proposed mental model provides further explanation about how caregivers do or do not synthesize and apply pain knowledge and experience, allowing for the identification of potential areas of intervention (e.g., pain psychoeducation) to improve pain treatment for the PWDs under their care.

L. S. Vygotsky’s cultural-historical theory: globalisation, post-non-classical paradigm and digitalisation

L. S. Vygotsky’s cultural-historical theory postulates the underlying unity of psychological and social factors contributing to the formation of man. It explains both internal factors determining the evolution of consciousness and social trends in social development. The paper highlights the role of L. S. Vygotsky’s theory in the interpretation of the changes in the modern human consciousness. These changes are caused by new culture tools of knowledge building currently created in the information space. The author emphasises the following ideas proposed by L. S. Vygotsky: 1) signs are functionally analogous to tools; 2) culture intentionally creates objects to realise its communicative-significative function; 3) sign utilization leads to the formation of fundamentally new associative bonds in the brain. Such bonds create a novel regulatory mechanism of human behaviour; 4) social determination of man is achieved with the help of signs; 5) the formation and functioning of mind depend on the means of thought and individual sociocultural experience; 6) ‘socialised speech’ influences the evolution of inner speech as a specific type of thinking-in-words and the logic of thinking; 7) the historical evolution of human culture plays the key role in the formation and functioning of individual psyches; 8) due to sign usage the nature of human evolution changed from biological to sociohistorical; consequently, mankind’s evolution significantly depends on the signs used by individuals. Modern digital technologies actively generate signs whose nature is contrary to verbal ones. The process of globalisation and the values of the post-non-classical mindset sustain generation of such signs. Globalisation creates a standardised and maximally regimented reality, which contributes to the reinforcement of reduplication as the socially approved way of knowledge use. What is more, globalisation requires revision of the traditional humanistic values and customs. Post-non-classical thinking enhances individuals’ feelings of insecurity and uncertainty, thus nearly making them act within the framework of conventional behavioural and mental models.

Στάση εκπαιδευτικού, ψυχολογικό κλίμα τάξης και εξωτερικευμένα προβλήματα συμπεριφοράς μαθητών

This study is placed in the framework of mental resilience models in Educational/ School Psychology, which emphasize the importance of relationships in basic contexts of life of students with problems. It is part of a wider research project and studies the relationship between perceived acceptance or rejection of teacher attitude, the psychologicalclimate of the classroom and externalizing behavior problems in primary school students. It is a comparative study among 55 students with externalizing behavior problems and 55 students without externalizing behavior problems, from the last grades of totally three primary schools in a suburban area of Crete. According to the main findings of the study, students’ externalizing behavior problems affect students to experienceteacher attitude greatly undifferentiated rejective (mild form of rejection). About the psychological climate of classroom, the results are conflicting, as students with externalizing behavior problems report theyare satisfied with both the peaceful/collaborative classroom climate (cohesiveness) and the conflictual climate (friction). Study’s results are utilized through intervention proposals for the prevention and treatment of schoolage students’ externalizing behavior problems.

Outsourcing: A Case of Shared Mental Models in Conflict

SUMMARYFor more than two decades, outsourcing – the business practice of transferring jobs, knowledge, and technologies from high‐ to low‐cost countries – has been a leading public policy issue in the U.S. and other economies. Policymakers respond to public concerns over outsourcing in two ways. One, they craft an electoral message to attract voters, and two, they choose policy responses. Two competing ideologies have emerged, one shared by elites and the other the public, to describe outsourcing and formulate policy solutions. This paper applies the Shared Mental Models (SMM) framework developed by Denzau and North to the two ideologies and it describes how each ideology shapes the politics and policies of outsourcing. Outsourcing is the kind of difficult collective choice – highly complex with strong uncertainty, limited information feedback, and mixed motivations ‐ well suited for the SMM framework. The framework provides a novel view into the political and policy dynamics of outsourcing.

“The Goals Remain Elusive”: Using Drawings to Examine Shifts in Teachers’ Mental Models Before and After an NGSS Professional Learning Experience

ABSTRACT Teachers’ ability to effectively enact the ambitious vision of the NGSS depends on their understanding of the conceptual and instructional shifts required, and their interpretation of how to implement these shifts in their classrooms. Thus, understanding teachers’ practical knowledge regarding the shifts is an important step in supporting them to effectively implement the NGSS vision. This study used a mental models framework and teacher drawings to examine the practical knowledge of 22 in-service secondary science teachers before and after professional development that was designed to support them to understand and make incremental instructional shifts aligned with the NGSS. Findings indicate that teachers’ mental models shifted in two promising ways. First, teachers recognized that their roles and their students’ roles would need to change, and second, the doing of science looks and sounds different than what was traditionally done in their classrooms. However, findings also suggest that teachers struggled to reconcile new ideas from the PD with their previous mental models of their classroom practice. These findings are significant because they indicate, teachers may have more fully-formed mental models for what science teaching and learning looks and sounds like when it is focused on what most would traditionally think of as classroom science doing (e.g., “doing labs”), or when it includes traditional knowledge dissemination structures (e.g., lectures). This has important implications for science teacher educators and researchers, which will be discussed.

Projecting real world into CrowdIntell network: a methodology

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to build cyber-physical-psychological ternary fusion crowd intelligence network and realize comprehensive, real, correct and synchronous projection in cyber–physical–psychological ternary fusion system. Since the network of crowd intelligence is the future interconnected network system that takes on the features of large scale, openness and self-organization. The Digital-selfs in the network of crowd intelligence interact and cooperate with each other to finish transactions and achieve co-evolution eventually. Design/methodology/approach To realize comprehensive, real, correct and synchronous projection between cyber–physical–psychological ternary fusion system, the authors propose the rules and methods of projection from real world to the CrowdIntell Network. They build the mental model of the Digital-self including structure model and behavior model in four aspects: identity, provision, demand and connection, thus forming a theoretical mental model framework of Digital-self. Findings The mental model is excepted to lay a foundation for the theory of modeling and simulation in the research of crowd science and engineering. Originality/value This paper is the first one to propose the mental model framework and projection rules and methods of Digital-selfs in network of crowd intelligence, which lays a solid foundation for the theory of modeling, simulation, intelligent transactions, evolution and stability of CrowdIntell Network system, thus promoting the development of crowd science and engineering.

Evolving from Individual Wellness to Departmental Wellbeing: How to Achieve Resilience and Longevity in Palliative Medicine (FR433)

•Describe the 7 dimensions of personal wellbeing and cultivate a strategy to sustain these practices in the setting of palliative medicine.•Develop a wellness toolkit for departmental wellbeing in Palliative Medicine and identify methods of implementation.•Discuss the Professional Quality of Life Assessment, Resilience Scale, and Compassion Fatigue Tool. With rates of burnout for palliative clinicians as high as 62% in recent studies it is imperative to the wellbeing of providers and their organizations to recognize those instances in which care given may be exceeded by patient needs. Complex, vulnerable patients increase the unmet demand for more palliative services and contribute to lack of wellness and resiliency in providers. The National Wellness Institute sees wellness as an evolving process through which a person achieves his or her full potential. To facilitate this potential, wellness may be viewed as a multi-spoked wheel containing all the dimensions necessary for professional wholeness and balance in the specialty. How can Palliative Medicine clinicians address the issues surrounding wellbeing, resilience, burnout, and “unwellness”? In this concurrent session, clinicians from multiple disciplines will discuss the importance of a shared mental model and common framework when discussing being well in Palliative Medicine, building resilience, and preventing burnout. Didactics, discussion and review of case examples will illustrate how a palliative clinician can impact his or her individual wellness. Several validated tools which measure compassion, quality of life, and resilience will be reviewed and administered. Since departmental and institutional wellness significantly impact individual wellness, discussion will center on knowledge and skills needed for programmatic improvements in wellness and the identification of outstanding interventions a department should implement to promote longevity, increase satisfaction, and recruit and retain palliative providers.

Understanding Perceptions of Fresh Produce Safety and Barriers to Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) Use Among Amish Growers in the Holmes County Settlement of Ohio

Addressing the complex problem of ensuring on-farm produce safety entails processes that allow for participation of affected groups, and integration of their knowledge and perceptions into the solutions. Such participatory processes, however, are difficult to develop among underserved groups, like the Amish communities of Ohio, where members seek deliberate separation from mainstream society and have insular social networks and limited trust in government agents. Using a mental models framework, we present research findings that will be used to help develop an outreach program to address produce safety in Amish communities in Ohio. These findings expand our understandings of Amish growers' perceptions and knowledge of on-farm produce safety practices in the following areas: the microbial risks to fresh and fresh-cut produce; practices that can prevent contamination; perceptions of the economic feasibility of adopting these practices; preparedness for a contamination event; and information needs and preferences. Information was collected to aid the development of outreach that respects the values and goals of the Amish produce growers, which is a key factor for program success, and that encourages the adoption of food safety principles in scale-appropriate ways by addressing barriers and building rapport and trust with community members. We believe that the information learned in this study is useful to a variety of people working with Plain Communities and other non-mechanized, small-scale farmers in addition to these communities.

Culture and cognition in health systems change.

Large-scale change involves modifying not only the structures and functions of multiple organizations, but also the mindsets and behaviours of diverse stakeholders. This paper focuses on the latter: the informal, less visible, and often neglected psychological and social factors implicated in change efforts. The purpose of this paper is to differentiate between the concepts of organizational culture and mental models, to argue for the value of applying a shared mental models (SMM) framework to large-scale change, and to suggest directions for future research. The authors provide an overview of SMM theory and use it to explore the dynamic relationship between culture and cognition. The contributions and limitations of the theory to change efforts are also discussed. Culture and cognition are complementary perspectives, providing insight into two different levels of the change process. SMM theory draws attention to important questions that add value to existing perspectives on large-scale change. The authors outline these questions for future research and argue that research and practice in this domain may be best served by focusing less on the potentially narrow goal of "achieving consensus" and more on identifying, understanding, and managing cognitive convergences and divergences as part of broader research and change management programmes. Drawing from both cultural and cognitive paradigms can provide researchers with a more complete picture of the processes by which coordinated action are achieved in complex change initiatives in the healthcare domain.

Examining the Successful Outcomes of Multidisciplinary Teamwork in a Code Situation using the Shared Mental Model Framework

In complex health care situations, teamwork becomes immensely integral to favorable patient outcomes. This study examines an unusual prolonged resuscitation case to understand elements that contributed to the successful outcome of this patient. Through use of the Shared Mental Model Framework (SMMF), we highlighted the importance of multidisciplinary teamwork during resuscitation efforts by analyzing team members’ perceptions through surveys. An 11-item open-ended questionnaire was administered to clinicians (N=9) involved in the resuscitation effort. A case analysis technique was used to identify four key themes that contributed to the success of this resuscitation effort: (1) clear goals are essential to the team’s functioning; (2) strong and effective communication solidified longitudinally among team members; (3) provider’s expertise was paramount to the case’s success; and (4) resources readily available helped manage the team’s cohesiveness. Identifying key teamwork elements in successful resuscitation efforts further informs the valuable need for team cohesiveness in health care.

Unless conditionals: New evidence from priming

Using a priming paradigm, the possibilities that people keep in mind in order to understand “unless A, B” were compared to those from “if A, not-B” conditionals. The length of time it took people to read conjunctions as “A and B”, “A and not-B”, “not-A and B”, and “not-A and not-B” after they had been primed by the different conditionals was measured. The results show that, whereas people rely on one possibility to understand “if”, they rely on two possibilities to understand “unless” conditionals. Results are discussed within the mental models framework.

Periodic Properties and Inquiry: Student Mental Models Observed during a Periodic Table Puzzle Activity

The mental models of both novice and advanced chemistry students were observed while the students performed a periodic table activity. The mental model framework seems to be an effective way of analyzing student behavior during learning activities. The analysis suggests that students do not recognize periodic trends through the examination of elemental data. Even simple relationships (e.g., the sequence of atomic mass values) proved important to novice understanding of the trends in the periodic table. The use of common heuristics for decision making, and well-known common errors associated with those heuristics independent of the students’ chemistry background, were also observed.

Qualitative Assessment of Inquiry-Based Teaching Methods

A new approach to teaching method assessment using student focused qualitative studies and the theoretical framework of mental models is proposed. The methodology is considered specifically for the advantages it offers when applied to the assessment of inquiry-based teaching methods. The theoretical foundation of mental models is discussed, and the framework described in detail, with examples from preliminary experimental results. It is argued that the application of this methodology provides a more learner focused approach to assessing a teaching activity, which provides more detail about the relevant cognitive processes used by the student and is a better guide for improving the activity.

Aristóteles versus Philoponus: um estudo funcional da física intuitiva dos projécteis

Enquanto domínio de investigação, a física intuitiva ocupa-se das representações espontâneas do mundo físico e do seu modo funcionamento (em particular, dos eventos mecânicos). Uma linha de estudo influente sugere um paralelismo entre o perfil dos erros diagnosticados nessas representações e as teorias pré-newtonianas, como a física aristotélica ou a física medieval do ímpeto. Neste estudo comparamse duas propostas de matematização da relação entre a velocidade de um móvel, a força aplicada ao projectá-lo e a resistência do meio, a primeira derivada a partir dos escritos de Aristóteles e a segunda proposta por Philoponus no século VI. A metodologia da teoria da Integração de Informação e da Medida Funcional foi utilizada para esse efeito, resultando no estabelecimento de um modelo algébrico divisivo, conforme à proposta aristotélica. O significado deste resultado é discutido, propondo-se uma relação com o quadro de estudo dos modelos mentais. Discute-se igualmente o contributo potencial da álgebra cognitiva para a física intuitiva.

The interpretation of indicative and subjunctive concessives

Using a priming paradigm in the context of a reading comprehension task, the possibilities that people keep in mind in order to understand indicative and subjunctive concessive sentences were examined and compared to those from factual and counterfactual ‘if A, not-B’ conditionals. The length of time it took people to read conjunctive descriptions (i.e., A and B, A and not-B, not-A and B, not-A and not-B) after they had been primed by the different types of linguistic form was measured. The results suggest that, whereas indicative ‘even though’ concessives and ‘if, not’ conditionals are understood by keeping in mind just a single possibility (‘A and B’ and ‘A and not-B’, respectively), the initial representations of subjunctive ‘even if’ concessive–conditionals and ‘if, not’ counterfactuals are compatible with a multiple-model representation. The implications of these results are discussed within the mental models framework.