Mental Models is we interpret through models. It sits in the Cognition dimension (COG) of the Human Behavior Taxonomy™ as element HBT-COG-0723, within the Level 4 family. The core principle: we interpret through models. In incentive terms, it matters because it changes the payoff people perceive before they choose — which means it can be designed for, or exploited.
Scientific Definition
We interpret through models
Plain-English Definition
We interpret through models
Feynman Explanation
We interpret through models
Core Principle
We interpret through models
Mechanisms
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Inputs (Triggers)
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Outputs (Behaviors)
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Behavioral Signature
We interpret through models
Examples
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Original analysis from The Incentives Lab — how this element behaves inside real payoff structures.
Why this element matters to incentive design
When this element shows up in a diagnostic, the instinct is to train people out of it. Training rarely moves it. The mechanism underneath it operates in the Cognition dimension — how do we think?. You can recognize it in the field by its signature: we interpret through models. Every element in the Cognition dimension changes the perceived payoff of an action before the action happens, which is exactly where incentive design has leverage.
How it gets exploited
Left undesigned, this element is exploited the ordinary way: someone discovers that triggering it is cheaper than earning the outcome it stands in for. The pattern is the same one Goodhart's Law describes: the measurable proxy attracts the effort, and the purpose behind it quietly loses funding.
How the Lab designs around it
The redesign move is to make the desired behavior observable, remove whatever currently pays for its opposite, and attach the reward to the behavior rather than to the noisy outcome downstream of it. Measure the behavior, not the sentiment. A survey will tell you how people feel about this; only observed action tells you whether it changed.
Famous Experiments
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Design Principles
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Measurement Approaches
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Evidence
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The Perverse Incentive Lens™
How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.
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Interactive Mini Network
Click any neighbor to re-center the graph and follow the threads of connection.
Knowledge Graph Neighbors
Auto-linked to the rest of the Human Behavior Taxonomy by family, domain, dimension, and shared keywords.
We notice things selectively
Humanity learns together
Simplify complex team decisions
Belief systems shape decisions
We imagine others' minds
Behaviors spread through groups via observation and imitation.
The study of how real humans actually decide — bounded, social, emotional, and inconsistent.
Reading micro-shifts in another person's state — breath, color, micro-expression — in real time.
Psychological distance shifts thinking between abstract and concrete.
What we wear influences how we think and perform.
Owning something raises its valuation — sellers want more to give it up than buyers will pay to acquire.
Tools, notebooks, and trusted others are literally part of your cognitive system — not just aids to it.
Where Mental Models is cited in the corpus
Essays, field guides, and diagnostics from The Incentives Lab that apply this element.
- EssayGoodhart's Law in the Real World
How measurable proxies capture judgment.
- EssayThe Perverse Incentives Hiding in Your KPIs
Cognitive shortcuts turned into scorecards.
- EssayAI Agents Inherit Your Incentives
How this element propagates into automated systems.
- ReferenceThe Periodic Table of Human Behavior
The full 1,267-element map this page belongs to.
- ReferenceThe incentive glossary
Definitions for every mental model, bias, and fallacy in the corpus.
Questions about Mental Models
- What is Mental Models?
- Mental Models is we interpret through models. It sits in the Cognition dimension (COG) of the Human Behavior Taxonomy™ as element HBT-COG-0723, within the Level 4 family. The core principle: we interpret through models. In incentive terms, it matters because it changes the payoff people perceive before they choose — which means it can be designed for, or exploited.
- How is Mental Models exploited?
- It is exploited when triggering the behavior becomes cheaper than producing the outcome the behavior is supposed to signal — the standard perverse-incentive path.
- How do you design around Mental Models?
- Name the behavior you want in observable terms, remove what currently pays for the opposite, attach the reward to the behavior rather than a lagging proxy, and publish how you will detect gaming.
- Which behavioral dimension does Mental Models belong to?
- Mental Models is classified in the Cognition dimension (COG) of the Human Behavior Taxonomy™, family "Level 4", class "Behavioral Force". Its permanent identifier is HBT-COG-0723 and its evidence grade is B.