CONCEPT
Mental Simulation (Klein)
The expert's capacity to project an action forward in time, imagining how the situation will evolve if the action is taken, watching for the moment when the projected scenario breaks down.
Mental simulation is the evaluative rehearsal phase of Klein's Recognition-Primed Decision model. Before implementing a recognized action, the expert runs it forward in her mind, constrained by her model of how the domain works. The simulation draws on the pattern library for its content; the library's richness determines the simulation's precision. When the projection reveals misfit with the current situation, the expert modifies the action or cycles to a different pattern. When the projection runs smoothly, the expert acts. The entire cycle takes seconds. Mental simulation is not imagination in the colloquial sense — it is constrained projection governed by the expert's tacit model of the domain, and it performs both an evaluative function (checking actions for problems) and a generative function (discovering new possibilities in the unfolding of projected scenarios).
In The You On AI Field Guide
The fire commander does not merely recognize a fire; he runs the attack forward before committing the crew. He imagines ordering an interior