On the Use of Cognitive Maps to Identify Meaning Variance

Cognitive science, as well as psychology, considers that individuals use internal representations of the external reality in order to interact with the world. These representations are called mental models and are considered as a cognitive structure at the basis of reasoning, decision making, and behavior. This paper relies on a fieldwork realized as closely as possible from the respondents. We propose an approach based on graph theory in order to study the meanings given by several people to the same concept, and to identify those who give it the same meaning. The use of tools from graph theory combined with the study of cognitive maps leaded us to highlight the importance of interaction notably within group decision making. This idea, as well as the limits of our approach, are discussed at the end of this paper