A possible mental equivalent is the use of analogies. We tend to use analogies in a simplified unsophisticated way. Analogies used in such a manner are rightly suspect. Because of the danger of misuse a common pattern in thinking is to discard weak analogies rapidly. An alternative is to try to find a perspective from which the analogy is strengthened, and to continue using the analogy with caution - as a tool for discovery.
Analogies are tools for discovery.
The role of an analogy is to suggest questions. The more knowledge we have of the thing we are basing the analogy on the more potential it has as a powerful tool for discovery. I'll resist this, for my interest in the analogy is not primarily to get an anatomy of thought processes, my focus is on techniques to improve thought, and this requires a different perspective. In improving software performance, concentrating on the language features would be like an artist whose focus was on the paint and the brushes. Although one uses the language features to make changes it is experience of software optimisation itself, rather than the language, that sheds some light on how to change one's own thought patterns.