Commonsense Modeling (CSM) of Health Behaviors

Abstract

We describe the cognitive processes, illness-specific prototypes, and deep-level schemata (acute/episodic/chronic) that generate the mental representations (illness and treatment representations) guiding people's selection, performance, and evaluation of medically prescribed treatments or self-selected actions to prevent and control illness threats. These processes can be activated by external cues, media, illness in others, and one's own symptoms and changes in function. Illness and treatment representations include explanations of causes, expectations for symptom duration, impact on daily function, and response to treatment. Failure to meet expectations instigates help seeking, such as talking to family members or seeking healthcare. We indicate that understanding these processes is critical for developing effective interventions, though not required nor typically involved in predictive modeling. Testing a process mode such as CSM requires selecting the determinant of behavior actively impacting the outcome, for example, illness representations (symptoms) for care seeking and treatment representations (outcomes of treatment) for chronic management.

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