Assumptions and Ambiguities in Mechanistic Mental Models

Abstract

Our long-range goal is to develop a model of how one acquires an understanding of mechanistic devices such as physical machines, electronic and hydraulic de­ vices, or reactors. We focus on two aspects of this problem. First, we lay out a framework for investigating the structure of people's mental models of physical devices, which we call mechanistic mental models. This involves developing a precise notion of a qualitative simulation and the kinds of " work" one expects it to do. The concept of qualitative simulation derives from the common intuition of " simulating the machine in the mind's eye." One of the goals of this chapter is to put this common intuition on a more solid theoretical base.