A mental-representation is a human-made cognitive construct — an internal or external symbol, image, or structure that stands for and carries meaning about something else. Parameters: (1) representamen — the form the representation takes (word, image, diagram, model, gesture); (2) referent — the thing or concept it stands for, which may be absent, abstract, or hypothetical; (3) interpretant — the meaning it generates in the mind of the interpreter. Persisted through language, teaching, notation systems, and cultural transmission. [formal: representatio | substrate: mind | horizon: a moment | explicit: yes | epoch: 0.18]
Accepted ontology entry
mental-representation
A mental-representation is a human-made cognitive construct — an internal or external symbol, image, or structure that stands for and carries meaning about something else. Parameters: (1) representamen — the form the representation takes (…
Definition
Why it is in scope
A human-made cognitive construct — an internal or external symbol, image, or structure that stands for and carries meaning about something else. Created through cognition, sustained through language and teaching, it is the medium through which humans think about things not immediately present.
Names and aliases
- mental-representationen · CANONICAL
Relations from this entry
No accepted relations in this direction.
Relations to this entry
- cmrmkdh3o00hsd1nl6ghrusu3← INSTANCE_OF
mental-model INSTANCE_OF mental-representation: a mental model is a specific kind of mental representation — a structured representation used to understand, explain, or predict how something works. A competent speaker would call a mental model 'a kind of mental representation.' Nearest general kind is mental-representation.
- cmrva2fvr00i42cein01c42m4← DEPENDS_ON
Counterfactual reasoning operates by constructing and manipulating mental representations of alternative scenarios. Remove mental-representation and counterfactual reasoning ceases to operate — there is no way to simulate 'what if' without representing alternatives in mind. This is constitutive, not meta-level: it is not about being sayable but about the cognitive operation itself.
Record identity
- Created
- Jul 21, 2026, 11:25 PM UTC
- Content hash
- 62a82094203ee0177fac7906992cf1553bfb6043cc5ab3b5a8d5d6d8abc134ca