Complete thesis - Murdoch University

Mental models are naturally evolving – through interaction with a target system, mentalmodels of that system are formulated. In addition, mental models are rarely self-sufficient(Allen and Otto, 1996) – as the basis for transposed and elaborated structures they arerequired to accommodate novel situations (Gott et al, 1993) in order to operate.This conceptualisation is supported by the early work of Adelson and Soloway (1985): experiencedpractitioners ‘execute’ (run) their designs in order to explore their ideas, but not beingnecessarily good programmers (ie coders) (Curtis et al, 1988), they make use of intermediarymental models as abstractions of the problem elements.As well as being incomplete, Norman (1983) suggests that mental models exhibit the followingcharacteristics:• they are unstable – details are forgotten especially if the model has not been ‘run’ forsome period• they do not have firm boundaries – similar devices and operations are confused• they are unscientific – people maintain superstitious behaviour patterns if it savesmental effort• they are parsimonious – extra physical action is traded off for reduced mental complexity.The value of modelling can be demonstrated through a brief description of an experimentconducted by Chase and Simon (1973). Shown a set-up chessboard for five seconds, experiencedchess players (a chess Master and Class A player) could recreate the positions frommemory better that a beginner when the pieces simulated game play. On the other hand,the beginner performed as well or better when pieces were placed randomly – when, in factthe experienced players’ internalised model of the game could not be used. The experimentillustrated how a model helps organise information and improve efficiency of informationrecall and recognition. Although questioned in later research, this view of model-making isfundamental to the information process perspective of learning.3.1.3 The development of shared meaningCognitive psychology surmises that a person’s response to stimuli is individual, and dependenton the person’s cognitive state and on the mental processes occurring (Dalgarno, 1996). Howknowledge is constructed, therefore, depends on: what is already known; previous experience;how those experiences have been organised into knowledge structures such as schemata or109