The analogical mind: Perspectives from cognitive science (original) (raw)
Related papers
What cognitive capabilities underlie our fundamental human achievements? Although a complete answer remains elusive, one basic component is a special kind of symbolic ability-the ability to pick out patterns, to identify recurrences of these patterns despite variation in the elements that compose them, to form concepts that abstract and reify these patterns, and to express these concepts in language. Analogy, in its most general sense, is this ability to think about relational patterns. As Douglas Hofstadter (chap.
A Naturalistic Exploration of Forms and Functions of Analogizing
Metaphor and Symbol, 2009
The purpose of this article is to invigorate debate concerning the nature of analogy, and to broaden the scope of current conceptions of analogy. We argue that analogizing is not a single or even a fundamental cognitive process. The argument relies on an analysis of the history of the concept of analogy, case studies on the use of analogy in scientific problem solving, cognitive research on analogy comprehension and problem solving, and a survey of computational mechanisms of analogy comprehension. Analogizing is regarded as a macrocognitive phenomenon having a number of supporting processes. These include the apperception of resemblances and distinctions, metaphor, and the balancing of semantic flexibility and inference constraint. Psychological theories and computational models have generally relied on (a) a sparse set of ontological concepts (a property called "similarity" and a structuralist categorization of types of semantic relations), (b) a single form category (i.e., the classic four-term analogy), and (c) a single set of morphological distinctions (e.g., verbal vs. pictorial analogies). This article presents a classification based on a "naturalistic" exploration of the variety of uses of analogical reasoning in pragmatically distinct contexts. The resultant taxonomy distinguishes pre-hoc, ad-hoc, post-hoc, pro-hoc, contra-hoc, and trans-hoc analogy. Each will require its own macrocognitive modeling, and each presents an opportunity for research on phenomena of reasoning that have been neglected.
2013
Analogy is a kind of similarity in which the same system of relations holds across different objects. Analogies thus capture parallels across different situations. When such a common structure is found, then what is known about one situation can be used to infer new information about the other. This chapter describes the processes involved in analogical reasoning, reviews foundational research and recent developments in the field, and proposes new avenues of investigation. analogy, mapping, inference, reasoning, relational structure, structural alignment, relational similarity, structure mapping, metaphor Analogical ability—the ability to perceive like relational structure across different contexts—is a core mechanism of human cognition. The ability to perceive and use purely relational similarity is a major contributor—arguably the major contributor—to our species ’ remarkable mental powers (Gentner,
The central role of analogy in cognitive science
Methode - Analytic Perspectives, 2013
Emmanuel Sander is Professor of Psychology at University of Paris-VIII and in charge of the research group "Compréhension, raisonnement et acquisition des connaissances". He is author, with Douglas Hofstadter, of the new book Surfaces and Essences: Analogy as the Fuel and Fire of Thinking (2013). The aim of this interview is to discuss the role of analogy and analogy-making in contemporary research in cognitive science, and to show at the same time the future perspectives for this topic in psychology and philosophy research framework. The interview is about the analogy as a cognitive capability, its relationship with logic and semantics, and with the key subjects of categorization and concepts, without ignoring some remarks about the connection with, and the contributions of, neuroscience as regards this particular research trend.
The use of analogy in human thinking is examined from the perspective of a multiconstraint theory, which postulates 3 basic types of constraints: similarity, structure, and purpose. The operation of these constraints is apparent in laboratory experiments on analogy and in naturalistic settings, including politics, psychotherapy, and scientific research. The multiconstraint theory has been implemented in detailed computational simulations of the analogical human mind.
Introduction: The place of analogy in cognition
The analogical mind: …, 2001
Thinking about Relational Patterns The celebration of the turn of a century is called a "centennial," and few people get to celebrate more than one of them. Even rarer is the celebration of the turn of a millennium. What should we call it? Why, a "millennial," of course. No need for prior experience, or even a dictionary-a This type of explicit relational match has been shown to be within the capacity of a handful of chimpanzees that have received training with physical symbols for the concept "same." The first such symbol-trained chimpanzee to exhibit relational matching was Sarah (Premack 1978), whose analogy abilities are discussed by David Oden, Roger Thompson, and David Premack (chap. 14). Critically, explicit relational matching is extremely difficult for chimpanzees that lack special training in symbol use, and apparently impossible for monkeys (Thompson and Oden 1998). In contrast to any other type of animal, analogy use develops spontaneously in very young members of the human species (see Goswami, chap. 13). The ability to in the form of waves. During the reign of the emperor Augustus, a Roman architect and engineer named Vitruvius described the nature of sound by analogy to water waves (1960:138-139): Voice is a flowing breath of air, perceptible to the hearing by contact. It moves i n an endless number of circular rounds, like the innumerably increasing circular waves which appear when a stone is thrown into smooth water, and which
Analogies—Integrating cognitive abilities
2009
Analogical reasoning is a highly sophisticated cognitive process and it could be the missing link for the understanding of cognitive abilities in natural complex systems. In many current approaches for modeling analogies and analogical reasoning, cognitive abilities are examined in isolation from related issues in order to control the environment and the underlying context. Although these research endeavors are successful in various aspects and applications, it seems as if each result of modeling a particular ability minimizes the chances to reach overall goals like modeling human-level intelligence. With this workshop we aim to bring together researchers who are working in the field of analogical reasoning and are relating their models to other cognitive abilities. This workshop focuses on analogy as an integrating basis for human cognition.
Varieties of Analogical Reasoning
Motivation -The purpose of this article is to reinvigorate debate concerning the nature of analogy and broaden the scope of current conceptions of analogy. Research approach -An analysis of the history of the concept of analogy, case studies on the use of analogy in problemsolving, cognitive research on analogy comprehension, and a naturalistic inquiry into the various functions of analogy. Findings and Implications -Psychological theories and computational models have generally relied on: (a) A single set of ontological concepts (a property called "similarity" and a structuralist categorization of types of semantic relations) (b) A single form category (i.e., the classic four-term analogy), and (c) A single set of morphological distinctions (e.g., verbal versus pictorial analogies). The taxonomy presented here distinguishes functional kinds of analogy, each of which presents an opportunity for research on aspects of reasoning that have been largely unrecognized. Originality/Value -The various functional kinds of analogy will each require their own treatment in macrocognitive theories and computational models. Take away message -The naturalistic investigation of the functions of analogy suggests that analogy is a macrocognitive phenomenon derivative of number of supporting processes, including the apperception of resemblances and distinctions, metaphor, and the balancing of semantic flexibility and inference constraint.
Reasoning and learning by analogy: Introduction
American Psychologist, 1997
1. Analogy is a powerful cognitive mechanism that people use to make inferences and learn new abstractions. The history of work on analogy in modern cognitive science is sketched, focusing on contributions from cognitive psychology, artificial intelligence, and philosophy of science. This review sets the stage for the 3 articles that follow in this Science Watch section.(PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Analogical Learning and Reasoning
Oxford Handbooks Online, 2013
Analogy is a kind of similarity in which the same system of relations holds across different objects. Analogies thus capture parallels across different situations. When such a common structure is found, then what is known about one situation can be used to infer new information about the other. This chapter describes the processes involved in analogical reasoning, reviews foundational research and recent developments in the field, and proposes new avenues of investigation.