This section is not a list of “incorrect thoughts” but a catalog of persistent framing patterns: assumptions, distinctions, and transition rules that organize the space of permissible questions, explanations, and decisions.
The general definition of a cognitive frame, its terminological boundaries, and its relationship to attention are set out in “Cognitive Frame”.
Why This Catalog Is Needed
One frame may appear in many phrases, and the same phrase may arise from different frames. Therefore, the unit of this catalog is not a characteristic utterance but the hidden rule organizing thought.
An entry for a frame should help trace the sequence:
typical formulation
↓
implicit assumptions
↓
rule governing permissible transitions
↓
excluded possibilities
↓
boundary of applicability
↓
movement into a metaposition
A frame is not necessarily false. It may be useful within a limited domain and become problematic only when automatically or unconsciously extended beyond its boundaries.
Entries
| Framing pattern | Type | Brief formula |
|---|---|---|
| The Single Correct Answer | epistemic | For every situation, there is one correct option determinable in advance |
| Past Failure Determines the Future | temporal, inductive | A result obtained once is projected onto new attempts without reexamining the conditions |
| Borrowed Trajectory of Success | mimetic, social | Another person’s success turns their goal and method into a model for the subject |
| Impersonal “You Must” | normative | A social expectation is experienced as a necessity requiring no independent justification |
Boundary with Related Concepts
- An assertion communicates a particular content.
- A method specifies an operation performed on content.
- A heuristic offers a shortened way of making a decision.
- A cognitive bias describes a persistent deviation in information processing.
- A social script establishes an expected sequence of roles and events.
- A cognitive frame determines which contents, methods, transitions, and questions are considered permissible in the first place.
Perseverative thinking belongs not among the entries for frames but among related forms of how a thought process unfolds. It describes repetition of an operation without substantial transformation of its content or result. The same frame can be examined productively or reproduced within such a loop.
A heuristic, bias, or social script may be an element of a frame, but is not identical to it.
Structure of a New Entry
For new entries, it is advisable to record:
- a brief formula of the frame;
- typical manifestations in speech;
- implicit assumptions;
- the rule for moving to a conclusion;
- what the frame makes visible and what it excludes;
- its scope of reasonable application;
- the point at which it becomes absolute;
- questions for moving into a metaposition;
- connections with other frames.
