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MENTAL MODEL · M9548

Mental Simulation

Mental Simulation
Learn & MetacognitionHigh supportCognitive Psychology
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Updated 2026-09-10

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INTRODUCTION

English translation pending.

CORE DEFINITION

Mental simulation is the internal rehearsal of a scenario, in which a person runs a sequence in imagination to reason about what would follow from a given action and to anticipate the feelings the outcome would produce. The core proposition is that decisions improve when alternatives are played forward before commitment, because simulating several paths surfaces consequences that a single step-by-step approach would not reach until it is too late. The key qualification is that simulations are built from remembered experience, so they inherit its biases and tend to be more accurate about familiar situations than novel ones.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

- Run It Forward: imagine the sequence that follows each option rather than only the immediate step. - Simulate The Failure: rehearse what happens if the plan goes wrong, not only if it works. - Check Against Reality: compare the simulation with what actually happened and correct the model.

anchor

Anchor fast decisions

Imagining a sequence activates much of the same knowledge that performing it would, which allows consequences to be evaluated without paying their real cost. Running several alternatives produces a comparison that a single commitment cannot, so choices can be made against anticipated outcomes rather than against hope. The accuracy of the simulation depends on the quality of the experience it draws on, which is why feedback after the event matters.

MINIMUM ACTION

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Source support: Explicit

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    wiki.mbalib.comhttps://wiki.mbalib.com/wiki/%E5%BF%83%E7%90%86%E6%A8%A1%E6%8B%9FZH · Explicit
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