I haven't read this book, but it is awell-known problem that this theory of mental models isn't formally well-developped and therefore not particularly predictive. Johnson-Laird apparently misunderstands what formal logic is when he claims that the phenomena in question show that it cannot be the basis for human reasoning. He doesn't seem to be aware that you can build all sorts of interesting non-monotonic logics that do unexpected things; and the first paragraph of your citation doesn't indicate that he has become any more competent in this regard.

You may be interested in this recent paper on the Erotetic Theory of Reasoning.