🏷️Knowledge Representation: On Causal Maps (Quotes)

 "[…] learning consists not in stimulus-response connections but in the building up in the nervous system of sets which function like cognitive maps […] such cognitive maps may be usefully characterized as varying from a narrow strip variety to a broader comprehensive variety." (Edward C Tolman, "Cognitive maps in rats and men", 1948)

"A person is changed by the contingencies of reinforcement under which he behaves; he does not store the contingencies. In particular, he does not store copies of the stimuli which have played a part in the contingencies. There are no 'iconic representations' in his mind; there are no 'data structures stored in his memory'; he has no 'cognitive map' of the world in which he has lived. He has simply been changed in such a way that stimuli now control particular kinds of perceptual behavior." (Burrhus F Skinner, "About behaviorism", 1974)

"A cognitive map is a specific way of representing a person's assertions about some limited domain, such as a policy problem. It is designed to capture the structure of the person's causal assertions and to generate the consequences that follow front this structure. […]  a person might use his cognitive map to derive explanations of the past, make predictions for the future, and choose policies in the present." (Robert M Axelrod, "Structure of Decision: The cognitive maps of political elites", 1976)

"The concepts a person uses are represented as points, and the causal links between these concepts are represented as arrows between these points. This gives a pictorial representation of the causal assertions of a person as a graph of points and arrows. This kind of representation of assertions as a graph will be called a cognitive map. The policy alternatives, all of the various causes and effects, the goals, and the ultimate utility of the decision maker can all be thought of as concept variables, and represented as points in the cognitive map. The real power of this approach ap pears when a cognitive map is pictured in graph form; it is then relatively easy to see how each of the concepts and causal relation ships relate to each other, and to see the overall structure of the whole set of portrayed assertions." (Robert Axelrod, "The Cognitive Mapping Approach to Decision Making" [in "Structure of Decision: The Cognitive Maps of Political Elites"], 1976)

"The cognitive map is not a picture or image which 'looks like' what it represents; rather, it is an information structure from which map-like images can be reconstructed and from which behaviour dependent upon place information can be generated." (John O'Keefe & Lynn Nadel, "The Hippocampus as a Cognitive Map", 1978)

"A fuzzy cognitive map or FCM draws a causal picture. It ties facts and things and processes to values and policies and objectives. And it lets you predict how complex events interact and play out. [...] Neural nets give a shortcut to tuning an FCM. The trick is to let the fuzzy causal edges change as if they were synapses in a neural net. They cannot change with the same math laws because FCM edges stand for causal effect not signal flow. We bombard the FCM nodes with real data. The data state which nodes are on or off and to which degree at each moment in time. Then the edges grow among the nodes."  (Bart Kosko, "Fuzzy Thinking: The new science of fuzzy logic", 1993)

"Under the label 'cognitive maps', mental models have been conceived of as the mental representation of spatial aspects of the environment. A mental model, in this sense, comprises the topology of an area, including relevant districts, landmarks, and paths." (Gert Rickheit & Lorenz Sichelschmidt, "Mental Models: Some Answers, Some Questions, Some Suggestions", 1999)

"Bounded rationality simultaneously constrains the complexity of our cognitive maps and our ability to use them to anticipate the system dynamics. Mental models in which the world is seen as a sequence of events and in which feedback, nonlinearity, time delays, and multiple consequences are lacking lead to poor performance when these elements of dynamic complexity are present. Dysfunction in complex systems can arise from the misperception of the feedback structure of the environment. But rich mental models that capture these sources of complexity cannot be used reliably to understand the dynamics. Dysfunction in complex systems can arise from faulty mental simulation-the misperception of feedback dynamics. These two different bounds on rationality must both be overcome for effective learning to occur. Perfect mental models without a simulation capability yield little insight; a calculus for reliable inferences about dynamics yields systematically erroneous results when applied to simplistic models." (John D Sterman, "Business Dynamics: Systems thinking and modeling for a complex world", 2000)

"Even if our cognitive maps of causal structure were perfect, learning, especially double-loop learning, would still be difficult. To use a mental model to design a new strategy or organization we must make inferences about the consequences of decision rules that have never been tried and for which we have no data. To do so requires intuitive solution of high-order nonlinear differential equations, a task far exceeding human cognitive capabilities in all but the simplest systems."  (John D Sterman, "Business Dynamics: Systems thinking and modeling for a complex world", 2000)

"The robustness of the misperceptions of feedback and the poor performance they cause are due to two basic and related deficiencies in our mental model. First, our cognitive maps of the causal structure of systems are vastly simplified compared to the complexity of the systems themselves. Second, we are unable to infer correctly the dynamics of all but the simplest causal maps. Both are direct consequences of bounded rationality, that is, the many limitations of attention, memory, recall, information processing capability, and time that constrain human decision making." (John D Sterman, "Business Dynamics: Systems thinking and modeling for a complex world", 2000)

"A causal map is an abstract representation of the causal relationships among kinds of objects and events in the world. Such relationships are not, for the most part, directly observable, but they can often be accurately inferred from observations. This includes both observations of patterns of contingency and correlation among events as well as observations of the effects of experimental interventions. We can think of everyday theories and theory-formation processes as cognitive systems that allow us to recover an accurate causal map of the world." (Alison Gopnik & Clark Glymour, "Causal maps and Bayes nets: a cognitive and computational account of theory-formation" [in "The cognitive basis of science"], 2002)

"Causal mapping is a technique that is used to elicit and represent domain knowledge of experts in the form of a graphical network called a causal map. A causal map (also called an influence diagram or a cause map) is a directed graph in which causal concepts (or nodes) represent the important variables that make up a domain. Causal connections are the directed arrows that connect these concepts to represent causal relationships between the variables." (S Nadkarni, Aggregated causal maps: An approach to elicit and aggregate the knowledge of multiple experts, 2003) 

"Eliciting and mapping the participant's mental models, while necessary, is far from sufficient [...] the result of the elicitation and mapping process is never more than a set of causal attributions, initial hypotheses about the structure of a system, which must then be tested. Simulation is the only practical way to test these models. The complexity of the cognitive maps produced in an elicitation workshop vastly exceeds our capacity to understand their implications. Qualitative maps are simply too ambiguous and too difficult to simulate mentally to provide much useful information on the adequacy of the model structure or guidance about the future development of the system or the effects of policies." (John D Sterman, "Learning in and about complex systems", Systems Thinking Vol. 3 2003)

"When an individual uses causal mapping to help clarify their own thinking, we call this technique cognitive mapping, because it is related to personal thinking or cognition. When a group maps their own ideas, we call it oval mapping, because we often use oval-shaped cards to record individuals’ ideas so that they can be arranged into a group’s map. Cognitive maps and oval maps can be used to create a strategic plan, because the maps include goals, strategies and actions, just like strategic plans." (John M Bryson et al, "Visible Thinking: Unlocking Causal Mapping For Practical Business Results", 2004)

🏷️Knowledge Representation: On Mind Maps (Quotes)

"A mind map harnesses the full range of cortical skills—word, image, number, logic, rhythm, color, and spatial awareness - in a single, uniquely powerful technique. In doing so, it gives you the freedom to roam the infinite expanse of your brain." (Tony Buzan, Barry Buzan, "The Mind Map Book: How to Use Radiant Thinking to Maximize Your Brain's Untapped Potential", 1996)

"Delay time, the time between causes and their impacts, can highly influence systems. Yet the concept of delayed effect is often missed in our impatient society, and when it is recognized, it’s almost always underestimated. Such oversight and devaluation can lead to poor decision making as well as poor problem solving, for decisions often have consequences that don’t show up until years later. Fortunately, mind mapping, fishbone diagrams, and creativity/brainstorming tools can be quite useful here." (Stephen G Haines, "The Manager's Pocket Guide to Strategic and Business Planning", 1998)

"An effective mind map is one that works for you and therefore it is your tailoring and your emphasis, images, colours, codes and style that will determine its effectiveness. Try to develop the habit of taking down all your notes in mind map format. If you are required to give presentations, do this from a mind map. When you are at meetings, take down the minutes in mind map layout and just notice the difference in your ability to retain exactly what happened at that meeting and compare it with your usual logical/analytical method of recording minutes." (Peter F Haddon, Mastering Personal and Interpersonal Skills, 1999)

"Mind mapping is a technique whereby information is summarised in a form of pictorial representation which depends very much on the creativity of the individual involved. The idea is that when information is pictured in colourful word associations backed up by sketches or even stick drawings of the key words, it is far more easily remembered, much like when looking at a photograph you can recall in detail the happenings that led up to and followed the incident." (Peter F Haddon, Mastering Personal and Interpersonal Skills, 1999)

"Knowledge maps are node-link representations in which ideas are located in nodes and connected to other related ideas through a series of labeled links. They differ from other similar representations such as mind maps, concept maps, and graphic organizers in the deliberate use of a common set of labeled links that connect ideas. Some links are domain specific (e.g., function is very useful for some topic domains...) whereas other links (e.g., part) are more broadly used. Links have arrowheads to indicate the direction of the relationship between ideas." (Angela M O’Donnell et al, "Knowledge Maps as Scaffolds for Cognitive Processing", Educational Psychology Review Vol. 14 (1), 2002) 

"Mind Mapping uses the full range of the brain's abilities, placing an image in the center of the page in order to facilitate memorization and the creative generation of ideas, and subsequently branches out in associative networks that mirror externally the brain's internal structures. By using this approach, the preparation of speeches can be reduced in time from days to minutes; problems can be solved both more comprehensively and more rapidly; memory can be improved from absent to perfect; and creative thinkers can generate a limitless number of ideas rather than a truncated list." Marshall Goldsmith et al, "The Many Facets of Leadership", 2002)

"[a mind map is a] "visual note-taking process that includes key words and pictures illustrating the relationships among concepts." (Ruth Colvin Clark, Chopeta Lyons, "Graphics for Learning: Proven guidelines for planning, designing, and evaluating visuals in training materials" 2nd ed., 2011)

"Data visualizations can also play a critical role when it is time to disseminate and communicate evaluation findings. Data visualization engages and supports program stakeholders by increasing their capacity to understand data and participate in the evaluation process. Collaboratively developed mind maps, logic models, and graphic illustrations can facilitate understanding of the findings and their implications by depicting a program’s most important activities, outcomes, and ultimate goal in a concise and clear manner. Well-designed interactive visualizations for reporting and community engagement help stakeholders answer questions of import within context and place engaged stakeholders in the driver’s seat in terms of defining variables and interpreting results." (Tarek Azzam et al, "Data Visualization and Evaluation", "Data visualization, part 1: New Directions for Evaluation", 139], 2013)

"Paradoxically one of the greatest advantages of mind maps is that they are seldom needed again. The very act of constructing a map is itself so effective in fixing ideas in memory that very often a whole map can recalled without going back to it at all. A mind map is so strongly visual and uses so many of the natural functions of memory that frequently it can be simply read off in the mind's eye." (Peter Russell, "The Brain Book: Know Your Own Mind and How to Use it", 2013)

"With the adoption of a more schematic and abstract construct, deprived of realistic arboreal features, a tree diagram could sometimes be rotated along its axis and depicted horizontally, with its ranks arranged most frequently from left to right. Horizontal trees probably emerged as an alternative to vertical trees to address spatial constraints and layout requirements, but they also provide unique advantages. The nesting arrangement of horizontal trees resembles the grammatical construct of a sentence, echoing a natural reading pattern that anyone can relate to. This alternative scheme was often deployed on facing pages of a manuscript, with the root of the tree at the very center, creating a type of mirroring effect that is still found in many digital and interactive executions. Horizontal trees have proved highly efficient for archetypal models such as classification trees, flow charts, mind maps, dendrograms, and, notably, in the display of files on several software applications and operating systems." (Manuel Lima, "The Book of Trees: Visualizing Branches of Knowledge", 2014)

"Essentially, a mind map is a type of node-link diagram in which the nodes represent concepts and the links represent relationships between concepts. The central idea to be explored is placed in the middle of the page and it is expanded out from there. Usually mind maps are drawn as tree structures with no cross links between branches, but this can be restrictive." (Colin Ware, "Information Visualization: Perception for Design" 4th Ed., 2021)

"The educational use of mind maps and concept maps would seem to fit well with constructivist theory. To construct such a map, students must actively draw out links between various concepts as they understand them. The problem is that the cognitive engagement tends to be somewhat superficial for mind maps, since it does not require that students think deeply about the nature of the links." (Colin Ware, "Information Visualization: Perception for Design" 4th Ed., 2021)

"Idea mapping offers the power to represent qualitative data, describe relationships, and enable one to see the 'big picture'. Further, mapping allows us to represent data in a way that facilitates the conceptualizing of its meaning. It provides a 'map', which makes it possible to observe macrophenomena, discover trends, and generate creative options. Idea mapping makes it possible to represent multiple dimensions of a situation without losing sight of any of its parts; it is an efficient way to manage an overwhelming amount of qualitative information. Finally, it offers a way to present information to clients in a graphic form that is both easy to understand and data rich. Often, an entire strategic plan can be represented in one map." (Terry Moore)