Analogy (Cognitive Psychology)

General productivity: How become waxed and wax became a copula

by peter petre

This article provides an analysis — within the framework of Radical Construction Grammar — of how BECOME developed... more This article provides an analysis — within the framework of Radical Construction Grammar — of how BECOME developed into a copula ‘become’ out of an original sense ‘arrive’, and WAX, originally ‘grow’, also came to be used as a copula ‘become’. Importantly, it explains why these verbs successfully became fully productive copulas in a very short period of time. It is argued that this happened after a pre-copular stage had reached a cognitive threshold value. The occurrence of this threshold is related to the fact that the copular constructions featuring BECOME and WAX were not the end result of a single diachronic lineage of constructions (i.e. one construction developed out of another one, one at a time). Instead, the copularization of these verbs was the result of an interaction between lineages of constructions, belonging to two groups: (i) constructions involving BECOME or WAX, which gradually changed and interacted with each other; (ii) constructions involving already existing copulas, notably WEORÐAN ‘become’, which provided a generally productive analog upon which the newly emerging copulas could graft. Generally, the article calls attention to the importance of multiple source constructions and thresholds in understanding grammaticalization processes and productivity.

Sobre pluralidad de modelos (On the plurality of models)

by Nicolas Saavedra Garreton

Publicado en PRAXIS. Revista de Psicología Año 13 Nº 19 (75-96), I Sem. 2011

En este trabajo se aborda la pluralidad de modelos en la construcción de teorías científicas, asumiendo dicha... more En este trabajo se aborda la pluralidad de modelos en la construcción de teorías científicas, asumiendo dicha pluralidad como una condición para la teorización fructífera. El tratamiento de este tópico es llevado a cabo tomando como base las propuestas de Max Black sobre modelos científicos, presentadas en su artículo Models and Archetypes. En esta referencia, Black caracteriza tres clases de modelo: analógico,
matemático y teórico. Algunas de las distinciones introducidas por Black son aplicadas al contraste de nociones pertenecientes a dos teorías de corriente principal en el ámbito
de la lingüística contemporánea: la lingüística generativa y la lingüística cognitiva. A partir de este contraste, se busca relativizar tanto el compromiso –aparentemente constitutivo– de estas teorías con el uso de ciertos tipos de modelo, como la resistencia de éstas al uso de modelos distintos. Esta relativización es introducida en función de las ventajas descriptivas y explicativas que un uso plural de modelos podría acarrear para las teorías en contraste.


This paper tackles the plurality of scientific models in constructing scientific theories, assuming this plurality as a condition for fruitful theorizing. The treatment
of this topic is carried out taking as a base Max Black’s proposals on scientific models, as presented in his article Models and Archetypes. In this reference, Black characterizes
three classes of models: analogical ones, mathematical ones and theoretical ones. Some distinctions introduced by Black are applied to the contrast between notions pertaining
to two mainstream theories in contemporary linguistics: generative linguistics and cognitive linguistics. From this contrast, the aim is to relativize both the – apparently
constitutive – commitment of these theories with the use of certain kinds of models, and the rejection of models of a different kind. This relativization is introduced according to the descriptive and explicative advantages that a plural use of models may
entail for the contrasting theories.

Absorbing new subjects: holography as an analog of photography

by Sean Johnston

I discuss the early history of holography and explore how perceptions, applications, and forecasts of the subject were... more I discuss the early history of holography and explore how perceptions, applications, and forecasts of the subject were shaped by prior experience. I focus on the work of Dennis Gabor (1900–1979) in England,Yury N. Denisyuk (b. 1924) in the Soviet Union, and Emmett N. Leith (1927–2005) and Juris Upatnieks (b. 1936) in the United States. I show that the evolution of holography was simultaneously promoted and constrained by its identification as an analog of photography, an association that influenced its assessment by successive audiences of practitioners, entrepreneurs, and consumers. One consequence is that holography can be seen as an example of a modern technical subject that has been shaped by cultural influences more powerfully than generally appreciated. Conversely, the understanding of this new science and technology in terms of an older one helps to explain why the cultural effects of holography have been more muted than anticipated by forecasters between the 1960s and 1990s.

Structure mapping theory as a formalism for instructional game design and assessment

by Debbie Denise Reese

Computational Models of Analogy-Making. An Overview Analysis of Computational Approaches to Analogical Reasoning

by Tarek Richard Besold

ILLC Publications, Technical Notes (X) Series, X-2011-03

An argument for an analogical perspective on rationality and decision-making

by Tarek Richard Besold

Co-authored with Gust, H. and Krumnack, U. and Abdel-Fattah, A. and Schmidt, M and Kühnberger, K.-U.
Proceedings of Workshop "Reasoning about other minds: Logical and cognitive perspectives", co-located with TARK XIII (Groningen, 2011). CEUR-WS.org, Vol. 751.

On the benefits and pitfalls of analogies for innovative design: Ideation performance based on analogical distance, commonness, and modality of examples

by Joel Chan

Co-authored with Katherine Fu, Christian Schunn, Jonathan Cagan, Kenneth Kotovsky, and Kristin Wood

Published in Journal of Mechanical Design

Drawing inspiration from examples by analogy can be a powerful tool for innovative design during conceptual ideation... more Drawing inspiration from examples by analogy can be a powerful tool for innovative design during conceptual ideation but also carries the risk of negative design outcomes (e.g., design fixation), depending on key properties of examples. Understanding these properties is critical for effectively harnessing the power of analogy. The current research explores how variations in analogical distance, commonness, and representa- tion modality influence the effects of examples on conceptual ideation. Senior-level engi- neering students generated solution concepts for an engineering design problem with or without provided examples drawn from the U.S. Patent database. Examples were crossed by analogical distance (near-field vs. far-field), commonness (more vs. less-common), and modality (picture vs. text). A control group that received no examples was included for comparison. Effects were examined on a mixture of ideation process and product var- iables. Our results show positive effects of far-field and less-common examples on novelty and variability in quality of solution concepts. These effects are not modulated by modal- ity. However, detailed analyses of process variables suggest divergent inspiration path- ways for far-field vs. less-common examples. Additionally, the combination of far-field, less-common examples resulted in more novel concepts than in the control group. These findings suggest guidelines for the effective design and implementation of design-by-anal- ogy methods, particularly a focus on far-field, less-common examples during the ideation process.

A distributed basis for analogical mapping

by Ross Gayler

Levy, S.D., & Gayler, R.W. (2009). A distributed basis for analogical mapping. In B. Kokinov, K. Holyoak, & D. Gentner (Eds.), New frontiers in analogy research; Proceedings of the Second International Analogy Conference - Analogy 09 (pp. 165-174. Sofia, Bulgaria: New Bulgarian University Press).

We are concerned with the practical feasibility of the neural basis of analogical mapping. All existing connectionist... more We are concerned with the practical feasibility of the neural basis of analogical mapping. All existing connectionist models of analogical mapping rely to some degree on localist representation (each concept or relation is represented by a dedicated unit/neuron). These localist solutions are implausible because they need too many units for human-level competence or require the dynamic re-wiring of networks on a sub-second time-scale.

Analogical mapping can be formalised as finding an approximate isomorphism between graphs representing the source and target conceptual structures. Connectionist models of analogical mapping implement continuous heuristic processes for finding graph isomorphisms. We present a novel connectionist mechanism for finding graph isomorphisms that relies on distributed, high-dimensional representations of structure and mappings. Consequently, it does not suffer from the problems of the number of units scaling combinatorially with the number of concepts or requiring dynamic network re-wiring.

Connections, binding, unification and analogical promiscuity

by Ross Gayler

Gayler, R.W., & Wales, R. (1998). Connections, binding, unification, and analogical promiscuity. In Keith Holyoak, Dedre Gentner, & Boicho Kokinov (Eds.), Advances in analogy research: Integration of theory and data from the cognitive, computational, and neural sciences (pp. 181-190). Sofia, Bulgaria: New Bulgarian University.

This paper claims that higher cognition implemented by a connectionist system will be essentially analogical, with... more This paper claims that higher cognition implemented by a connectionist system will be essentially analogical, with analogical mapping by continuous systematic substitution as the core cognitive process. The centrality of analogy is argued to be necessary in order for a connectionist system to use representations that are effectively symbolic. In turn, these representations are argued to be a necessary consequence of a sequence of broad design decisions needed to address technical problems in adapting a connectionist system for higher cognition. The design decisions are driven by the demands of a paradigmatic cognitive task and the desire to remain faithful to the constraints of connectionist components. Thus, the argument explains the origin of symbolic representations and analogy as necessary consequences of task demands and connectionist processing capabilities.

Multiplicative binding, representation operators and analogy

by Ross Gayler

Gayler, R.W. (1998). Multiplicative binding, representation operators, and analogy. In Keith Holyoak, Dedre Gentner, & Boicho Kokinov (Eds.), Advances in analogy research: Integration of theory and data from the cognitive, computational, and neural sciences (p. 405). Sofia, Bulgaria: New Bulgarian University. http://cogprints.org/502/

Analogical inference depends on systematic substitution of the components of compositional structures. Simple... more Analogical inference depends on systematic substitution of the components of compositional structures. Simple systematic substitution has been achieved in a number of connectionist systems that support binding (the ability to create connectionist representations of the combination of component representations). These systems have used various implementations of two generic composition operators: bind() and bundle(). This paper introduces a novel implementation of the bind() operator that is simple, can be efficiently implemented, and highlights the relationship between retrieval queries and analogical mapping. A frame of role/filler bindings can easily be represented using bind() and bundle(). However, typical binding systems are unable to adequately represent multiple frames and arbitrary nested compositional structures. A novel family of representational operators (called braid()) is introduced to address these problems. Other binding systems make the strong assumption that the roles and fillers are disjoint in order to avoid ambiguities inherent in their representational idioms. The braid() operator can be used to avoid this assumption. The new representational idiom suggests how the cognitive processes of bottom-up and top-down object recognition might be implemented. These processes depend on analogical mapping to integrate disjoint representations and drive perceptual search.

Connectionist implications for processing capacity limitations in analogies

by Ross Gayler

Halford, G.S., Wilson, W.H., Guo, J., Gayler, R.W., Wiles, J., & Stewart, J.E.M. (1994). Connectionist implications for processing capacity limitations in analogies. In K.J. Holyoak & J. Barnden (Eds.), Advances in connectionist and neural computation theory, Vol. 2: Analogical connections (pp. 363-415). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.

There is now a reasonable amount of consensus that an analogy entails a mapping from one structure, the base or... more There is now a reasonable amount of consensus that an analogy entails a mapping from one structure, the base or source, to another structure, the target (Gentner, 1983, 1989; Holyoak & Thagard, 1989). Theories of human analogical reasoning have been reviewed by Gentner (1989), who concludes that there is basic agreement on the one-to-one mapping of elements and the carry over of predicates. Furthermore, as Palmer (1989) points out, some of the theoretical differences represent different levels of description rather than competing models. Despite this consensus about the central role of structure mapping, it really only treats the syntax of analogies, and there are also important pragmatic factors, as has been pointed out by Holland, Holyoak, Nisbett, and Thagard (1986) and Holyoak and Thagard (1989), However in this chapter we are primarily concerned with the problem of how to model the structure mapping or syntactic component of analogical reasoning in terms of parallel distributed processing (PDP) architectures.

According to Gentner (1983), attributes are not normally mapped in analogies, and only certain relations are mapped, the selection being based on systematicity, or the degree to which relations enter into a coherent structure. Gentner (1983) defines an attribute as a predicate taking one argument, whereas a relation is a predicate taking two arguments. Strictly, this only covers binary relations; in general, a relation is a predicate taking two or more arguments, so ternary relations have three arguments, quaternary relations four arguments, and so on. For our purposes a predicate is essentially an N-place relation; it can be defined as a N-place function from the Cartesian product of the N sets to the set {T,F}. This includes unary relations, which are predicates with one argument, and are equivalent to attributes in Gentner's terms. Our derivations based on relations can be applied to functions.

La analogía como herramienta en la generación de ideas previas

by Hernán Miguel

Miguel, H. 1999. “La analogía como herramienta en la generación de ideas previas” El Caldero de la Escuela, 73, pp 85-97. Escuela de Orientación Lacaniana, Bs As. Octubre de 1999.

Reimpresa con permiso de El Caldero de la Escuela en ATAS VII CONFERÊNCIA INTERAMERICANA SOBRE EDUCAÇÃO EM FÍSICA, Porto Alegre (Canela), RS – Brasil. Julho 3-7, 2000. CDU 53:37 (063) PACS F01.40.

Nuevos roles para propiedades y relaciones en la estructura de una analogía

by Hernán Miguel

Ares, O. – Di Sciulio, A. – Jiménez, G. – Miguel, H. – Paruelo, J. – Reynoso, L. 2006. “Nuevos roles para propiedades y relaciones en la estructura de una analogía” Signos Filosóficos Vol. VIII (16), pp 81-96. ISSN: 1665-1324. Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana.

KEY WORDS: ANALOGY, TEACHING, PROPERTIES, RELATIONS, REPRESENTATION
INTRODUCCIÓN

In this paper we deal with the problem of stating what an analogy relation is, according it is usually used on... more In this paper we deal with the problem of stating what an analogy relation is, according it is usually used on teaching natural sciences. According our proposal, two situations are said to be analogous if their representations includes isomorphical subsets. We analyze the elements that can be involved in setting the analogy relation up, namely, particulars, properties and relations. We point out the features that make
a property relevant to the analog relation. We also maintain that the relations picked up in one situation could differ with those of the other situation intented to be mapped.

How 15 hundred is like 15 cherries

by John Opfer

2010. Child Development.

How does understanding the decimal system change with age and experience? Second, third, sixth graders, and adults... more How does understanding the decimal system change with age and experience? Second, third, sixth graders, and adults (Experiment 1: N = 96, mean ages = 7.9, 9.23, 12.06, and 19.96 years, respectively) made number line estimates across 3 scales (0–1,000, 0–10,000, and 0–100,000). Generation of linear estimates increased with age but decreased with numerical scale. Therefore, the authors hypothesized highlighting commonalities between small and large scales (15:100::1500:10000) might prompt children to generalize their linear representations to ever-larger scales. Experiment 2 assigned second graders (N = 46, mean age = 7.78 years) to experimental groups differing in how commonalities of small and large numerical scales were highlighted. Only children experiencing progressive alignment of small and large scales successfully produced linear estimates on increasingly larger scales, suggesting analogies between numeric scales elicit broad generalization of linear representations.

Revisiting preschoolers' living things concept

by John Opfer

2004. Cognitive Psychology.

Many preschoolers know that plants and animals share basic biological properties, but this knowledge does not usually... more Many preschoolers know that plants and animals share basic biological properties, but this knowledge does not usually lead them to conclude that plants, like animals, are living things. To resolve this seeming paradox, we hypothesized that preschoolers largely base their judgments of life status on a biological property, capacity for teleological action, but that few preschoolers realize that plants possess this capacity. To test the hypothesis, we taught 5-year-olds one of four biological facts and examined the children's subsequent categorization of life status for numerous animals, plants, and artifacts. As predicted, a large majority of 5-year-olds who learned that both plants and animals, but not artifacts, move in goal-directed ways inferred that both plants and animals, but not artifacts, are alive. These children were considerably more likely to draw this inference than peers who learned that the same plants and animals grow or need water and almost as likely to do so as children who were explicitly told that animals and plants are living things and that artifacts are not. Results also indicated that not all biological properties are extended from familiar animals to plants; some biological properties are first attributed to plants and then extended to animals.

Analogy and conceptual change in childhood

by John Opfer

2008. Behavioral & Brain Sciences.

Analogical inferences are an important consequence of the way semantic knowledge is represented, that is, with... more Analogical inferences are an important consequence of the way semantic knowledge is represented, that is, with relations as explicit structures that can take arguments. We review evidence that this feature of semantic cognition successfully predicts how quickly and broadly children's concepts change with experience and show that Rogers & McClelland's (R&M's) parallel distributed processing (PDP) model fails to simulate these cognitive changes due to its handling of relational information.

What makes relational reasoning smart?

by John Opfer

2009. Developmental Science.

Development of reasoning is often depicted as involving increasing use of relational similarities and decreasing use... more Development of reasoning is often depicted as involving increasing use of relational similarities and decreasing use of perceptual similarities (‘the perceptual-to-relational shift’). We argue that this shift is a special case of a broader developmental trend: increasing sensitivity to the predictive accuracy of different similarity types. To test this hypothesis, we asked participants
(3-, 4-, 5-year-olds and adults) to generalize novel information on two types of problems – offspring problems, where relational matches yield accurate generalizations, and prey problems, where perceptual matches yield accurate generalizations. On offspring problems, we replicated prior findings of increasing relational matches with age. However, we observed decreasing relational matches on prey problems. Provided feedback on their responses, 3-year-olds showed the same trend. Findings suggest that the relational shift commonly observed in categorization and analogical reasoning may reflect a general increase in children’s sensitivity to cue validity rather than an overall preference to generalize over perceptual similarity

Reseña de The Logic of Metaphor

by Nicolas Saavedra Garreton

Reseña de The Logic of Metaphor, de Eric Steinhart. Dordrecht: Kluwer, 2001, 254 páginas.

Publicada en Cuadernos de filosofía 26, 2008, pp. 89-94, Universidad de Concepción

The standard model in the history of the natural sciences, econometrics, and the social sciences

by William Fisher

Fisher, W. P., Jr. (2010). The standard model in the history of the natural sciences, econometrics, and the social sciences. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 238(1),

Abstract. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, scientists appropriated Newton’s laws of motion as a model for... more Abstract. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, scientists appropriated Newton’s laws of motion as a model for the conduct of any other field of investigation that would purport to be a science. This early form of a Standard Model eventually informed the basis of analogies for the mathematical expression of phenomena previously studied qualitatively, such as cohesion, affinity, heat, light, electricity, and magnetism. James Clerk Maxwell is known for his repeated use of a formalized version of this method of analogy in lectures, teaching, and the design of experiments. Economists transferring skills learned in physics made use of the Standard Model, especially after Maxwell demonstrated the value of conceiving it in abstract mathematics instead of as a concrete and literal mechanical analogy. Haavelmo's probability approach in econometrics and R. Fisher's Statistical Methods for Research Workers brought a statistical approach to bear on the Standard Model, quietly reversing the perspective of economics and the social sciences relative to that of physics. Where physicists, and Maxwell in particular, intuited scientific method as imposing stringent demands on the quality and interrelations of data, instruments, and theory in the name of inferential and comparative stability, statistical models and methods disconnected theory from data by removing the instrument as an essential component. New possibilities for reconnecting economics and the social sciences to Maxwell's sense of the method of analogy are found in Rasch's probabilistic models for measurement.

EXPLORING THE IMPACTS OF ANALOGIES ON COMPUTER HARDWARE

by Serkan DINCER

In the last few decades, analogy, which is considered as a special case for reasoning, has attracted a great deal of... more In the last few decades, analogy, which is considered as a special case for reasoning, has attracted a great deal of attention from cognitive scientists. Although analogy was rarely applied in previous decades, now it is often considered by educators and researchers as a strategy to provide creative solutions and poetic writing (Paris & Glynn, 2004). Today, teaching models through analogy are used in different fields successfully and found to be beneficial for unobservable phenomena (Trey & Khan, 2008). Moving from the findings of previous studies, this study aims to explore the effects of detailed analogies on students’ learning success in studying the working rationale and hardware components of the computer. 86 students in 1st and 2nd grades of Computer and instructional Technology Department volunteered to participate in the study. The sample was divided into two groups randomly: the control group who received the lectures without using analogies and the experimental group who were taught using detailed analogies. The data was collected through pre- and post-tests at the beginning and at the end of one academic term. The results of the analyses show that the students’ success was significantly higher for the group taught via detailed analogies. Considering the low number of the studies conducted to identify the effects of analogies on computer sciences learning, the findings of this present study is supposed to initiate other studies in the field.