Mental models as a situational alternative to schema theory for comprehending novel situations and texts¶

Theory · All theories
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The essay presents mental models, following McNamara, Miller and Bransford (1991) and Johnston-Laird (1989), as an alternative to schema theory for understanding novel situations and objects that schema-to-text matching does not explain. A mental model has "a structure that corresponds to the structure of the situation that it represents," built from tokens and images rather than verbatim sentences. The essay argues their use is highly situational, such as in establishing instructions and supporting better recall of events described by a text.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• A view of comprehension as building and maintaining a model of situations and events described in a text, applied in situations where schema-to-text matching does not explain understanding

Constraints¶

• The essay states mental models are incomplete and strongly dependent on specific situations; implicit memory knowledge cannot be represented as explicit propositions, images or tokens, and propositional representations can preserve text structure, making the need for mental models questionable

Target Learners¶

• readers comprehending texts describing novel situations

Target Learning Objectives¶

• comprehension of novel situations and text-based events

Claims¶

Related Theories¶

• Dual coding theory: parallel verbal and nonverbal representation systems as an alternative to schema theory
• Schema theory as a theory of knowledge: networks of a superordinate concept with supporting information that interface with incoming information

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Bigenho, Frederick W., Jr. (1992). Conceptual Developments in Schema Theory. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED351392