MENTAL MODELS - CONCEPTS FOR HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION RESEARCH

In interacting with the world, people form internal representations or mental models of themselves and the objects with which they interact (Norman, 1983a). According to Norman, mental models provide predictive and explanatory powers for understanding the interaction. More abstractly, Gentner and Stevens (1983) propose that mental models focus on the way people understand a specific knowledge domain. More concretely, Carroll (1984) views mental models as information that is input into cognitive structures and processes. What are mental models? Are they always formed? When formed, what are their characteristics? What are the functional consequences of having no model (if that is possible), an immature model, or a mature model? This paper intends to explore these questions. © 1993 Academic Press. All rights reserved.