Styles are also available in Decision Explorer. Similar to the coloured pen used by some mappers, it allows you to categorise ideas visibly. Thus you can indicate that a particular idea is a goal, or an option etc. Styles and sets can be used for analysis. Cognitive mapping also uses links more actively than mind mapping.
Most links are directional, and are used to indicate causal relationships.
Because links therefore add further contextual information, you can start to obtain reports of a complete chain of argument. Typical Decision Explorer models will be between 100 and 300 concepts in size. Some have gone to over 1,500. Small problems can sometimes be solved in less, but an issue of any complexity soon gathers useful information. Once a map gets above about 50 concepts, with all the appropriate links, it is practically impossible to get a sensible display in a single map.