Knowledge Representation: Beyond Mental Models (Part I)

Mental Models Series

Many definitions can be quite abstract, especially those that attempt defining abstract things like a mental model, however, definitions are essential in obtaining a common ground to understand the concepts used. There are many attempts to define what a mental model is, however, to understand its place within the mental space is needed to describe at high-level how the mind works, in other words to create a mental model for it.

Probably the most important delimitation that needs to be made is the one between the physical and mental reality. The physical reality refers to the state of things as they are outside the mind, typically in the environment we live in, in opposition to the inner reality – the world of the mind, and on how the physical reality is perceived, imagined and reflected by the mind.

Reality concerns given environments and their main constituents – objects, situations, events, facts, and phenomena associated with it. The environment is the physical or mental space in which something exists or takes place. An object is an inanimate, animate or mental thing that can be perceived, a pattern that allowed us drawing a boundary around it. An event is something that happened, happens or will happen. A fact is something that is known to have happened or to exist. A situation is a set of things that are happening, respectively the conditions that exist in environment. A phenomenon is an observable fact, situation or event.

An object can refer to a single thing or a group of related or connected things part of the environment, or to the whole environment. A group of related things can form a class, while a group of connected things between which exists certain dependencies can be regarded as a system. Within the group, the arrangement and organization of the elements depict groups’ structure. By arrangement is denoted how the elements are ordered or positioned in respect to each other, while by organization the relations existing between the elements.

In addition, one can discuss about patterns, the way in which something is done, organized, or happens, as well about configuration, the arrangement or pattern identified at a given moment, respectively about form, the shape or appearance of something. A state is a given configuration from the total combination of configurations possible, while a condition is a state that imposes a limitation.

Perception is the quality of being aware of things through the physical senses, especially sight, involving the ability to notice and understand things. Experience is what we gain in the direct interaction with the reality, the physical objects by observing the phenomena. Knowing is the ability to process information and manipulate symbols to experience the world, generating in the process further information and symbols that describe our experience. Understanding is the ability to make experience meaningful and useful in form of structures of meanings (aka understandings) to the degree that the experience can be reused in similar situations.

Thinking is the process of using understandings to arrive to new understandings, thought being the act of thinking as well the unit of thinking expressed as an idea. Beliefs are understandings we consider as true, while opinions are thoughts or beliefs one has on specific matters. An idea is an understanding, thought, belief or opinion.

Reasoning is the process of using facts to arrive to new facts or understandings. Intuition is the understanding or knowing of something without needing to think or reason about it. Imagination is the ability to form new concepts, ideas or mental models in the mind, independently whether they exist, whether they are valid or true.

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Disclaimer: Most of the definitions were adapted from the Cambridge Dictionary, however there can be important deviations from the respective source.