Individual skill
s4h-cognition-mental-models
Surfaces and audits the internal representations that drive perception and decision-making. Use when asked 'what assumptions am I making', 'why do I keep seeing this the same way', 'what model is driving this decision', 'I think I'm missing something about how this works', 'what's my mental model here', or when a belief or decision pattern needs to be examined from the inside.
skills/s4h-cognition-mental-models/SKILL.md
Source commit a30df8b67698ccb03ef5e35d68c2eddc5321ad3f
What was checked
- Matches the observed repository HEAD
- Yes
- Scanner rules are current
- No
- Repository scan complete
- No
- Skill scan complete
- Yes
- Observed behavior
- Not checked yet
- Last checked
- Nov 5, 2026
These are observations at the recorded commit, not a guarantee of safety. Review the source before running it.
Install this skill
Choose an agent in your Stack or copy a command below. Commands fetch the pinned commit and copy only this skill directory. Existing destinations are refused. Copying a command does not install anything.
An install command is unavailable: current rules, complete repository and skill scans, an eligible behavior level and a permitted license are required.
Repository context
- Repository stars (not skill ratings)
- 239
- Repository last updated
- Jul 15, 2026
- License
- MIT
Observed agent integration: No specific integration evidence. Standard SKILL.md installation does not imply verified compatibility.
- claude-code Repository topic
- claude-code-plugin Repository topic
- cognitive-frameworks Repository topic
- creativity Repository topic
- decision-making Repository topic
- ethics Repository topic
- mental-models Repository topic
- problem-solving Repository topic
- reasoning Repository topic
- systems-thinking Repository topic
- engineering Derived category
Files and excerpt
File metadata and permitted, redacted excerpts come from the recorded scan. Source links are pinned to that commit.
Browse files
SKILL.mdcore · 8,138 bytes
Read excerpt
# Cognition: Mental Models
Every perception, judgment, and decision runs through a mental model. Philip Johnson-Laird's model theory, developed through decades of research at Princeton, demonstrated that human reasoning does not operate on formal logical rules — it operates on internal simulations of situations. We construct small-scale models of reality, reason by running those models mentally, and check conclusions against them. The problem is not that we use mental models — it's that the models become invisible.
When a mental model is invisible, it cannot be examined. Its assumptions are treated as facts. Its gaps become blind spots. Its distortions shape what evidence we notice and what options we can imagine, all without our awareness. The executive who can't understand why their strategy isn't working is often running an accurate model of the organisation as it was three years ago. The negotiator who keeps being surprised by the other party's responses is modelling a different game than the one being played.
This skill makes the implicit explicit. It identifies which models are active in a situation, extracts their assumptions, tests those assumptions against available evidence, and identifies where the model is incomplete, outdated, or simply wrong. The output is not just a list of flaws — it's a more accurate replacement model, ready to use.
---
## Your Process
**Step 1: Identify the Model in Use**
Ask: what are the implicit beliefs about how this domain works that are driving the current perception or decision? A mental model has three components: