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How to catch a mental model by the tale

How to catch a mental model by the tale Abstract It has long been clear that narratives are rarely retained verbatim — what is typically stored in memory (as a ‘mental model’) is rather far removed from the original wording. The particular framework adopted in this paper is the Pattern and Process approach inspired by Whitehead. In considering what minimal set of ‘instructional’ processes might be required to create a mental model from the words of a story that are read it is suggested that the ‘propositional prehension’ plays a central role. A distinction between propositional structure and propositional content is crucial here. This approach exploits the notion of the decay of the ‘weak’ nexus links that characterize the relationship between form and function in symbolic systems — these contrast with the strong nexus links binding memory traces of real world situations and events. It assumes that the memory trace left by a simple story (read or heard) is the result of the gradual disintegration of weak links between strings of words and their content, ultimately leaving just the strong ones between the relevant parts of the associated content. In order to substantiate this claim, the retelling of an anecdote by 24 native English-speaking subjects was elicited to abstract the constant structure behind the idiosyncratic versions produced by individual subjects. Although the individual ‘mental model’ may remain hidden, its trace left in reconstructing new ‘products’ is open to public scrutiny. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Acta Linguistica Hafniensia: International Taylor & Francis

How to catch a mental model by the tale

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How to catch a mental model by the tale

Abstract

Abstract It has long been clear that narratives are rarely retained verbatim — what is typically stored in memory (as a ‘mental model’) is rather far removed from the original wording. The particular framework adopted in this paper is the Pattern and Process approach inspired by Whitehead. In considering what minimal set of ‘instructional’ processes might be required to create a mental model from the words of a story that are read it is suggested that the...
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Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Copyright
Copyright Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN
1949-0763
eISSN
0374-0463
DOI
10.1080/03740463.2007.10414603
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Abstract It has long been clear that narratives are rarely retained verbatim — what is typically stored in memory (as a ‘mental model’) is rather far removed from the original wording. The particular framework adopted in this paper is the Pattern and Process approach inspired by Whitehead. In considering what minimal set of ‘instructional’ processes might be required to create a mental model from the words of a story that are read it is suggested that the ‘propositional prehension’ plays a central role. A distinction between propositional structure and propositional content is crucial here. This approach exploits the notion of the decay of the ‘weak’ nexus links that characterize the relationship between form and function in symbolic systems — these contrast with the strong nexus links binding memory traces of real world situations and events. It assumes that the memory trace left by a simple story (read or heard) is the result of the gradual disintegration of weak links between strings of words and their content, ultimately leaving just the strong ones between the relevant parts of the associated content. In order to substantiate this claim, the retelling of an anecdote by 24 native English-speaking subjects was elicited to abstract the constant structure behind the idiosyncratic versions produced by individual subjects. Although the individual ‘mental model’ may remain hidden, its trace left in reconstructing new ‘products’ is open to public scrutiny.

Journal

Acta Linguistica Hafniensia: International – Taylor & Francis

Published: Jan 1, 2007

References