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Introduction
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New information rarely arrives in a mind with no relevant knowledge. You understand a story partly through what you know about people, places, and ordinary events. You recognize a new chair because you already have an idea of what chairs are like.
A mental representation is a way information is held or organized in the mind. It can include a concept, a remembered image, a relationship between ideas, or an expectation about how something works.
The term sounds technical, but the basic idea is familiar: we use what we know to interpret what comes next. This lesson explains how that helps, what it can hide, and how to revise an idea when a new case does not fit.