Mental cookery: An illustration of fact retrieval from plans

Anyone who is able to cook a certain dish will probably also be able to list its ingredients from memory. Detailed recording of this verbal listing exposes structural regularities. These imply that people can search a representation which is essentially the same as that used in the actual cooking. In effect, the dish can be “mentally cooked” and the necessary ingredients reported when they occur. This ability to mentally simulate plans allows considerable cognitive economy.