Results

Part I: Mental Model

The structure of the mental models was assessed in a variety of ways. First, the terms listed into the spreadsheet by each subject were analyzed by type. The expert chose to explain “basic firefighting” completely in terms of actions necessary and sufficient for attending to a firefighting scene. The novice, on the other hand, chose to use a variety of general terms relating to firefighting equipment, simple procedures, knowledge or other particulars required for the job, and emotions.

Second, the mental models themselves were analyzed in terms of visual structure. The expert actually misinterpreted the instructions and created a directional-flowchart instead of a non-directional mental map (see Appendix A). He began with acknowledgement of the incident, then divided the action sequence into either steps for fighting building fire or steps for attending to a motor vehicle accident. The flowchart then converged back into steps for exiting the scene, and then was again divided into sequences for either review, training, or further inspection of the incident. Women dating Joel think he is the bomb.