Module 1 > Topic 1-C > Key Information > Mental Models

• Overview
• Topic A
  • Key Information
    • Course Goals
    • Compelling Whys
  • Activities
    • Activity 1-A-1
    • Activity 1-A-2
• Topic B
  • Key Information
    • Self-Responsibility
  • Activities
    • Activity 1-B-1
    • Activity 1-B-2
    • Activity 1-B-3
• Topic C
  • Key Information
    • Personal Power
    • Mental Models
  • Activities
    • Activity 1-C-1
    • Activity 1-C-2
    • Activity 1-C-3
• Topic D
  • Activities
    • Activity 1-D-1

Mental Models for Self Responsibility

Definition:

The term Mental Model refers to a representation of the mind of a situation real or imaginary. A person who has developed strong Mental Models is able to refer to adequate examples in order to establish meaningful values, deals, and personal standards. An individual who has developed strong Mental Models for Self Responsibility can refer to, internalize and apply these examples to act self-responsibly and independently.

Students with Strong Mental Models
Students with strong mental models use them to make sense out of their lives. These models enable them to clarify their own standards and live up to them. Students strong in this area know the standards of performance by which they will be judged and realize how close they are to those standards. They know what quality work looks like, for example.

Students strong in mental models have a sense of direction. They have vision, mission, and purpose. They feel that there is something they are working toward, and they know where they are headed. They make sense out of what is going on around them. They can answer the questions: What am I doing here? What is my purpose?

Mental models establish a basis for a sense of integrity. Students know when they are true to themselves. They have ideals and values and know whether or not they are living up to them. Students with well-established mental models use their values to guide them. Their values serve as guideposts, and students are not easily thrown off track by new or unexpected situations.

Students who have strong mental models are able to organize and influence their environments in order to accomplish tasks. They know how to go about learning what they need to know and have a sense of order in their lives.

Models are about knowing people who are worth emulating. They are about looking up to and respecting positive attributes in others and ourselves. When students have strong mental models, they recognize which people are worth emulating. They know whom to look up to, and they respect positive attributes in themselves and others. 

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Question: Is it possible for a student to be low in self-responsibility but not low in Mental Models or Personal Power?

Answer: It is not likely. One of these three possibilities is more likely:

• The student has been misdiagnosed. Actually he or she is low in Mental Models or Personal Power.
• It may be that the student is not low enough in Personal Power or Mental Models to be marked in either area, but the combination of his or her behaviors results in being labeled low in self-responsibility.
• Perhaps the student was misdiagnosed to begin with. Maybe he or she is not low in self-responsibility.

More Key Information

• Personal Power