Mental Model Theory Research Articles

The relevance of the semantic context in inter-understanding: an example based on the interpretation of Italian from Spanish

This paper reports a study model for further research carried out with four participants in order to show that the general theses held in works such as, for example, the one of López-Astorga in 2017 about linguistic inter-understanding deserve to be considered. The goal is to support the idea that such theses are clearly useful to describe the mental processes that actually happen when individuals speaking a particular language try to interpret another language that, while it is different from theirs, it is also very similar or close to it. The theses basically claim that those mental processes have to be akin to inductions such as described by the mental models theory. So, this last approach is assumed here as well. In this way, the main conclusion of the study, whose participants were Spanish-speaking students that had to interpret firstly an Italian word and then a complete sentence with that very word in that same language, and who did not know Italian, is that, in accordance with the aforementioned theses, the semantic context in which a word is can be essential in the linguistic processes of inter-understanding.

‘But’ and its role in the building of mental representations

The mental models theory rejects that sentences are linked to logical forms. From its perspective, their most relevant aspect refers to the semantic possibilities that correspond to them. In this way, the theory has analyzed in detail the real semantic role that the traditional connectives in logic can play in reasoning. However, given that logical forms are not important in its framework, in this paper, it is argued that those connectives are not the only operators that the mental models theory should review, and that there are other connectives present in most of the languages in general that can be interesting for it as well. That is the case of ‘but’ in English, which is addressed from the approach of the aforementioned theory here.

Analytic Sentences, Cognition, and Language: Some Links between Current Theories

This paper tries to explore possible relations and differences between three kinds of contemporary theories about cognition and language: the approaches supporting the idea that there is a mental logic, the mental models theory, and the frameworks based upon probability logic. That exploration is made here by means of the analytic sentences and the revision of the way each of those types of theories can deal with them. The conclusions seem to show that the three kinds of theories address such sentences in a similar manner, which can mean that there can be more links between them than thought.

Mental model theory as a model for analysing visual and multimodal discourse

Mental model theory is taken by scholars like Teun van Dijk as the fundamental idea of epistemic representations about the situations, events, and actions of the natural and social world. Modified by dynamic as well as situationally variable cognitive context (communication) models, the structures of such models, and therefore of the world knowledge, are claimed to multiply affect the production and interpretation of text and talk— e.g., in storytelling, argumentation, expository discourse, the level and specificity of characterisation, (non-)metaphoric blends, etc. Hence, the theory of context models also forms the basis of pragmatics. In this article, it is argued that visual and multimodal discourse will benefit from adopting van Dijk's mental model theory as the basic model for analysis. This will demand adaptation of the model, which has hitherto been primarily employed to examine verbal mass-communication or interaction, to multimodal mass-communication. The article offers tentative suggestions on how this can be done, using a corpus of political cartoons and Internet memes.

The Analytic Truth and Falsity of Disjunctions.

Disjunctive inferences are difficult. According to the theory of mental models, it is because of the alternative possibilities to which disjunctions refer. Three experiments corroborated further predictions of the mental model theory. Participants judged that disjunctions, such as Either this year is a leap year or it is a common year are true. Given a disjunction such asEither A or B, they tended to evaluate the four cases in its 'partition': A and B, A and not-B, not-A and B, not-A and not-B, as 'possible' or 'impossible' in ways that bore out the difference between inclusive disjunctions ('or both') and exclusive disjunctions ('but not both'). Knowledge usually concerns what is true, and so when participants judge that a disjunction is false, or contingent, and evaluate the cases in its partition, they depend on inferences that yield predictable errors. They tended to judge that disjunctions, such as follows: Either the food is cold or else it is tepid, but not both, are true, though in fact they could be false. They tended to infer 'mirror-image' evaluations that yield the same possibilities for false disjunctions as those for true disjunctions. The article considers the implications of these results for alternative theories based on classical logic or on the probability calculus.

CONTRIBUIÇÕES DE UMA SEQUÊNCIA DIDÁTICA COM MODELOS TÁTEIS PARA AS REPRESENTAÇÕES MENTAIS DE ALUNOS UNIVERSITÁRIOS SOBRE PROTEÍNAS

Nesse estudo investigamos as representações mentais a respeito de proteínas, dentre treze alunos universitários de dois cursos da área de Ciências da Natureza, e a contribuição de uma sequência didática para a formação/reelaboração destas representações. Para tal, realizamos uma entrevista inicial, um curso de nove horas sobre proteínas e uma entrevista final. O curso foi ministrado por meio de atividades práticas com a utilização de modelos pré-fabricados para montagem de biomoléculas. Os dados coletados foram registros escritos e audiovisuais e modelos táteis de estruturas proteicas montados com materiais de baixo custo. Utilizamos a análise de conteúdo e a teoria dos Modelos Mentais de Jonhson-Laird para categorizar os alunos em modelizadores e não modelizadores e respectivas subcategorias. A sequência didática promoveu um aumento do número de alunos modelizadores, cujos modelos táteis montados e as explicações a eles associadas foram mais complexos, com detalhamento das interações intra e intermoleculares.

Possible roles for semantics and syntax in a government-binding structure

As described, for example, by Hornstein, the general linguistic framework given by the contemporary government-binding theory distinguishes several levels. This paper is intended to show that a differentiation of that kind, if such levels are understood in a different manner, can be clearly consistent with some developments in current cognitive science, and, in particular, with approaches such as the one of López-Astorga, which attempts to link proposals that, in principle, can be deemed as irreconcilable, such as the mental models theory and the idea that human cognition is led by logical forms. In this way, without accepting the characteristics that usually are assigned to the levels pointed out by the government-binding theory, it is argued that the role attributed to semantics and syntax by López-Astorga can be compatible with a general structure more or less akin to the one of this last theory.

‘And’ is not always a logical conjunction

The mental models theory has shown that the logical connectives do not always refer to the interpretation assigned to them by standard logic. Several papers authored by its proponents clearly reveal that in the cases of the conditional and disjunction. In this paper, following a methodology of analysis akin to that of the mental models theory, I try to check whether or not the same applies to conjunction, and my conclusion is that, indeed, this last connective can be linked to any of the sixteen possible interpretations that a logical operator relating two clauses can have.

A Meta-Analytic Examination of the Continued Influence of Misinformation in the Face of Correction: How Powerful Is It, Why Does It Happen, and How to Stop It?

A meta-analysis was conducted to examine the extent of continued influence of misinformation in the face of correction and the theoretical explanations of this phenomenon. Aggregation of results from 32 studies ( N = 6,527) revealed that, on average, correction does not entirely eliminate the effect of misinformation ( r = –.05, p = .045). Corrective messages were found to be more successful when they are coherent, consistent with the audience’s worldview, and delivered by the source of the misinformation itself. Corrections are less effective if the misinformation was attributed to a credible source, the misinformation has been repeated multiple times prior to correction, or when there was a time lag between the delivery of the misinformation and the correction. These findings are consistent with predictions based on theories of mental models and offer concrete recommendations for practitioners.

Effectiveness of mental footnotes in the cognitive therapy for panic attack: two case-studies.

New findings in the area of experimental, cognitive psychology point out that the implicit meanings determine the information that is being processed. The so-called mental footnotes can even modify the path trajectory in a driving task. This influence has been proposed to go beyond this kind of task. Mental footnotes have been proposed as determining factors in the information processing in specific psychopatological syndromes. The objective of this study is to evaluate the adequacy of applying these implicit pieces of information, in form of mental footnotes, to stop the series of catastrophic thoughts in the panic attack syndrome. Following the theory of mental models and the iconic representation of the real world, two cases of panic attack have been treated. By using the negation illusory-reality technique, a mental footnote of this does not have to happen was added to the catastrophic representation of the world in patients with this syndrome. As a result, these two patients have not reported panic attacks in, at least, 2 year after the last session of therapy. A deeper study of the efficacy of this technique is encouraged in order to be recommended for the treatment of patients who suffer from panic attacks.

Learning from an Expert Teacher: Feynman’s Teaching of Gravitation as an Examplar

An expert teachers’ instruction can be helpful to other teachers because good teaching effectively guides students to develop meaningful learning. Feynman is an excellent physics lecturer as well as one of the greatest physicists of the 20th century who presented and explained physics with his unique teaching style based on his great store of knowledge. However, it is not easy to capture and visualize teaching because it is not only the complex phenomena interrelated to various factors with the content to be taught but also the tacit representation. In this study, the framework of knowledge & belief based on the integrated mental model theory was used as a tool to capture and visualize complex and tacit representation of Feynman’s teaching of ‘The theory of gravitation,’ a chapter in The Feynman Lectures on Physics. Feynman’s teaching was found to go beyond the transmission of physics concepts by showing that components of the framework of knowledge & belief were effectively intertwined and integrated in his teaching and the storyline was well-organized. On the basis of these discussions, the implications of Feynman’s teaching analyzed within the framework of knowledge & belief for physics teacher education are derived. Finally, the characteristics of the framework of knowledge & belief as tools for the analysis of teaching are presented.

Visual recycling and intertextuality: a neurocognitive perspective

The phenomenon this article is studying is so common and important in the everyday world that its name should be known: it is visual/multimodal recycling. It occurs when editorial artists (cartoonists and illustrators) recycle or reuse non-verbal and compositional ideas they have developed earlier. Drawing primarily on neurocognitive theories—such as Teun van Dijk’s multimodal mental model theory, Daniel Kahneman’s theory of judgment, etc.—this article develops a multidisciplinary framework that can account for the fundamental properties of recycling. The paper addresses questions such as: How does recycling operate? Is it a deliberate or unconscious practice? Does it differ from one country or society to the next? What are its main patterns? Are there any gender differences in recycling? Multimodal scholars and cognitivists in various disciplines should find the phenomenon of recycling pertinent to their concerns.

Adquisición del lenguaje y capacidades cognitivas innatas: Un enfoque desde la teoría de los modelos mentales

Según Hornstein, la gramática generativa necesita ofrecer una explicación del hecho deque los niños pueden aprender cualquier idioma viviendo en contextos con muchas limitaciones ydeficiencias desde el punto de vista lingüístico. Piensa que las teorías inductivas no son capaces deaclarar cómo acontece el aprendizaje con tales limitaciones y deficiencias. Del mismo modo, en suopinión, las teorías semánticas no muestran por qué la semántica es necesaria para explicar esehecho. No obstante, el propósito de este trabajo es argumentar a favor de la idea de que una teoríacognitiva esencialmente semántica, la teoría de los modelos mentales, puede no solo clarificar elmencionado hecho, sino también evidenciar que la semántica es fundamental en la mayor parte delas actividades intelectuales humanas.

Paradigms, possibilities, and probabilities: Comment on Hinterecker, Knauff, and Johnson-Laird (2016).

Hinterecker, Knauff, and Johnson-Laird (2016) compared the adequacy of the probabilistic new paradigm in reasoning with the recent revision of mental models theory (MMT) for explaining a novel class of inferences containing the modal term "possibly." For example, the door is closed or the window is open or both, therefore, possibly the door is closed and the window is open (A or B or both, therefore, possibly(A & B)). They concluded that their results support MMT. In this comment, it is argued that Hinterecker et al. (2016) have not adequately characterized the theory of probabilistic validity (p-validity) on which the new paradigm depends. It is unclear how p-validity can be applied to these inferences, which are anyway peripheral to the theory. It is also argued that the revision of MMT is not well motivated and its adoption leads to many logical absurdities. Moreover, the comparison is not appropriate because these theories are defined at different levels of computational explanation. In particular, revised MMT lacks a provably consistent computational level theory that could justify treating these inferences as valid. It is further argued that the data could result from the noncolloquial locutions used to express the premises. Finally, an alternative pragmatic account is proposed based on the idea that a conclusion is possible if what someone knows cannot rule it out. This account could be applied to the unrevised mental model theory rendering the revision redundant. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Exclusivity and kinds of models in modulated disjunctive inferences

The disjunction introduction rule, that is, the schema in classical logic that, from a premise, leads to conclude a disjunction transforming the premise into a disjunct of that disjunction, is a cognitive problem. This is so because people only use this rule on a few occasions. Therefore, any theory trying to account for human reasoning must explain this phenomenon as well. Based on the mental models theory, Orenes and Johnson-Laird provide such an explanation. In this way, this paper is intended to show that, although it can seem that their account is in contradiction with some essential assumptions and important developments of the aforementioned theory, that is not actually so. The key points in this regard that will be analyzed are the way the mental models theory really understands disjunction and the distinction that this last approach presents between Mental Models and Fully Explicit Models.

Mental Models or Probabilistic Reasoning or Both

The present paper presents an overview of contemporary reasoning research to examine the evidence for and implications of the Dual Strategy Model of Reasoning. The Dual Strategy Model of Reasoning proposes that there are two types of reasoning strategy applied in deductive reasoning - counterexample and statistical. The paper considers Mental Models Theory and The Probability Heuristics Model as candidate specifications for these respective strategies and hypotheses are proposed on this basis. The Dual Strategy Model is further considered in the context of Dual Process theory, the Dual Source Model and Meta-reasoning and implications of the synergy between these proposals are considered. We finally consider the Dual Strategy Model in the context of individual differences, and normative considerations before proposing novel hypotheses and further avenues of research which we argue require exploration in this context.

A simple decision-making approach for information technology solution selection

Information technology (IT) is an indispensable tool for any organisation today, so the choice of adequate IT solutions is a critically important skill. In the literature, many methods for selecting IT solutions have been proposed, but often they use vague criteria that are very difficult to quantify and complex methods to compare alternatives. So, the application of these methods outside the theoretical articles is restricted, since practitioners need simpler approaches. We propose a simple method of the evaluation of alternative IT solutions based on five criteria, namely the cost of ownership, the time for the change, security risks, acceptance by users, and confidence in the supplier's ability to implement the solution. In accordance with the theory of probabilistic mental models, a reference class is proposed for each criterion and variables that can be measured quantitatively are chosen on its base. To simplify the decision-making process, a weighted production model is used for the comparison of alternatives.

The problem of the order of the conjuncts in the coordinating conjunction ‘and’: A logical-syntactic solution

From the mental models theory, it has been claimed that the conjunction commutativity law, that is, the logical law providing that the order of the conjuncts joined by the coordinating conjunction ‘and’ can be changed without modifying the truth-value of the sentence, is not always valid in real conversations in natural language. For this reason, based on that very theory, it has been proposed that the true sense of a sentence of that kind can only be suitably captured by a semantic theory, such as the one of the mental models, which resorts to iconic possibilities describing reality. However, in this paper, it is argued that the formal and basically syntactic frameworks can also correctly stand for the actual meaning corresponding to propositions with a coordinating conjunction such as ‘and’ to which the conjunction commutativity law does not seem, in principle, to apply. To do that, they do not have to significantly move away from classical logic, but only to add to the connectives in this last logic a modal operator akin to ‘Next’ in temporal logic, and this without the need to assume many more temporal logical elements.

A Case Study of Geographical Concept Change in Elementary School Students Using Mental Model Theory

A Case Study of Geographical Concept Change in Elementary School Students Using Mental Model Theory

Gorgias’ Argument does not Include Actual Conditionals


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 It can be thought that Gorgias’ argument on the non-existence consists of three sentences, the first one being an asseveration and the other two being conditionals. However, this paper is intended to show that there is no conditional in the argument, and that the second and third sentences only appear to be so. To do that, a methodology drawn from the framework of the mental models theory is used, which seems to lead to the true logical forms of these last sentences as well.