Publications about the M-Tool (all open access)
This paper introduces M-Tool and guides researchers on how to use the tool in their research.
This paper showcases the first application of the tool with a sample of Tanzanian fishers, and demonstrates support for M-Tool’s usability and validity.
This publication contains an R-script that provides users with a starting point for their M-Tool data analysis. The script uses the edge list produced by M-Tool and transforms these into total number of nodes, total number of edges and various centrality measures.
MToolR is a companion package for the Mental Model Mapping Tool M-Tool (https://www.m-tool.org/). The package provides: a) functionality to load and process data generated by M-Tool b) procedures for common (basic) analytical tasks c) visualization functions. More features are planned. We welcome feedback.
Publications with applications of the M-Tool
- Luukkonen, R., & van den Broek, K. L. (2024). Exploring the drivers behind visiting repair cafés: Insights from mental models. Cleaner Production Letters, 7, Article 100070. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clpl.2024.100070
In this paper, we mapped the mental models of the motivations to visit a repair cafe. The findings show that Visitors were strongly driven by environmental concerns and their perceived lack of repair skills. - van den Broek, K., Negro, S., & Hekkert, M. (2024). Mapping mental models in sustainability transitions. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 51, 1-10. Article 100855. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2024.100855
In this paper, we outline the value of mapping mental models in sustainability transitions and present three types of transition mental models and illustrate them with M-Tool examples. - Gebhardt, S., Assis, J. C., Lacayo-Emery, M., Scherpenisse, A., van den Broek, K.L., Speelman, E., Wassen, M. J., Bakker, M., & van Dijk, J. (2024). Supporting stakeholder dialogue on ecosystem service tradeoffs with a simulation tool for land use configuration effects. Environmental Modelling and Software, 179, Article 106097. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2024.106097
In this paper, we used the M-Tool to assess the impact of a new tool to elucidate ecosystem service tradeoffs in user-designed scenarios. The results show the comparison of stakeholder’s mental models of ecosystem tradeoffs before and after the use of the new tool. - de Ridder, D. T. D., van den Boom, L. A. T. P., Kroese, F. M., Moors, E. H. M., & van den Broek, K. L. (2024). How do people understand the spread of COVID-19 infections? Mapping mental models of factors contributing to the pandemic. Psychology & Health, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/08870446.2022.2129054
How do citizens perceive the development of the COVID-19 pandemic? What are the perceived dynamics of the factors that influence transmissions of the virus and the number of cases? These are the questions that this team of researchers is investigated by mapping citizens’ mental models of the pandemic.
- van den Broek, K. L., Luomba, J., van den Broek, J., & Fischer, H. (2023). Content and complexity of stakeholders’ mental models of socio-ecological systems: Evidence from Tanzanian fishers. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 85, 101906. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2022.101906
In this paper, we mapped Tanzanian fishers’ mental models of the Nile perch fish stock fluctuation. We find complex and diverse mental models of the causes of changes in the fish stock. These mental models tended to focus on the causal influence of destructive fishing activities. Mental model complexity consistently differed across geographical regions in Tanzania.
Ongoing projects using the M-Tool
Mental models of the energy transition
Karlijn van den Broek & Lynn de Jager (Utrecht University), Rouven Doran & Gisela Bohm (Bergen University)
This project maps citizens’ and expert mental models of the energy transition and the interaction between various energy transition pathways.
Mental models of climate change in West and East Africa
Maryse Chappin & Karlijn van den Broek (Copernicus Institute for Sustainable Development, Utrecht University), Gisela Böhm & Usman Isyaku (Department of Psychosocial Science, Bergen University)
The MECCA project aims to identify adaptation and mitigation strategies by analyzing the gap between stakeholder’s mental models of change and risk and projected impacts of human activities under changing climatic conditions in East Africa (Lake Victoria) and West Africa (Lagos). M-Tool will be used in this project to capture stakeholders’ mental models of the drivers and consequences of climate change among fishing, farming, and urban communities as well as relevant policymakers.
Integrating mental models into energy systems models to foster social change towards support for wind power deployment
Leanda Vedder, Karlijn van den Broek, Luis Eduardo Ramirez Camargo & Martin Junginger (Copernicus Institute for Sustainable Development, Utrecht University)
This research project focuses on the acceptability of wind energy and investigates the involved stakeholder’s perception of the impact of wind power deployment. Stakeholders’ mental models of the impact of wind power deployment are mapped and integrated into energy system models to identify and address possible misjudgments among stakeholders on the impacts of wind energy deployment that may impede the energy transition.
ECO-MIND – Enhancing Pro-Environmental Behaviours and Mental Health through Nature Contact for Urban Youth: A multi-country study using geographic ecological momentary assessment and mental models
Martina Bubalo, S.M. Labib Karlijn van den Broek & Marco Helbich (Copernicus Institute for Sustainable Development, Utrecht University)
This Eco-Mind project will be the first to integrate high-resolution, longitudinal data on nature exposure with cognitive and behavioural models in daily life. We will investigate urban youths’ PEB and mental health in relation to nature contact in varying urban settings. We will test if causal pathways between nature exposure, mental health, and PEB are moderated/mediated by individuals’ mental models about nature exposure and nature connectedness.