> From: Jessica Lipnack <jlipnack@netage.com>
> Does anyone know the origin of the term "mental model?" Was this
> a Peter Senge invention in FIFTH DISCIPLINE or did it originate
> elsewhere? I need this info for a book I'm writing.
Jessica,
William Rouse and Nancy Morris' 1986 article in 'Psychological Bulletin' vol. 100, No.
3 (349-363), shows that the term 'Mental Models' had been "knocking around" for two
decades before then; firstly in a more limited form, in the manual motor community,
then (more recognizably) in cognitive science. The problem for the latter, they note is
that the term is so wide that it's difficult to separate it from other terms like 'knowledge'
(a cue for another thread...?).
Whatever, the one sure thing is that Peter Senge didn't invent the term.
Andrew Rowe (adrowe@essex.ac.uk)
p.s. Marlene Fiol's 1992 Journal of Management Studies article (V.29, N. 3, p267-85) is
quite good as well on this subject.
--andrew rowe <adrowe@essex.ac.uk>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>