Object encoding, goal similarity, and analogical transfer

Abstract

Although the importance of goal similarity and similarity of encoding are well known in analogical transfer literature, there has never been a study in which one of these factors was maintained constant and the other manipulated. This point was studied in our first experiment. The results show that the interaction between the two factors is not significant. However, the width of the credibility intervals suggests that it is difficult to conclude that there is either a presence or an absence of an interaction. The second experiment concerned more directly the impact of the encoding process on recognition of analogy. The results show that analogical transfer can be highly dependent on the way subjects interpret problems and that the encoding process can be influenced by the visual characteristics ofthe problems. These results can be related to a recent body of research on the importance of interpretive effects on analogy, as well as to the categorization literature.Similarities of problem situations and of goals have been recognized as two major determinants in analogy. When both are high, spontaneous transfer can be observed (Gentner, 1983;Gick & Holyoak, 1983;Holyoak, 1985;Novick, 1988;Ross, 1984Ross, , 1987. However, there is no information about any possible interaction between these two factors. This may be due to the fact that experiments have been planned in such a way as to study the effect of one or the other factor separately. Here, our aim was to study these two factors together and in isolation, in order to verify whether both are necessary conditions for observing transfer.For similarity of problem situations, the kind of situations that have been used are those in which subjects are asked to solve or read one or more source problems and are then asked to solve further problems whose solution requires transfer from the source problems solved earlier (Gentner, 1983;Gick & Holyoak, 1983;Ross, 1987). This research has brought out the importance of surface traits in the recognition of analogy (Holyoak & Koh, 1987;Ross, 1984). Surface traits are salient and unrelated to structure, but they influence analogical transfer. Results have shown that the transfer of solution paths from source to target problems is facilitated when surface similarities are increased or are relatively constant from one problem to the next within the same domain (Gentner & Toupin, 1986;Gick & Holyoak, 1983). For instance, in one ofGick and Holyoak's (1983) studies, the source probWe thank three anonymous reviewers for remarks and suggestions that allowed us to improve this article. We also thank Elizabeth Hamilton for help in translating the manuscript. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to M. Zamani, Laboratoire CNRS-ESA 7021, Cognition et Activites Finalisees, Universite Paris 8, 2 Rue de la Liberte, 93526 Saint Denis, Cedex 02, France (e-mail: zamani@ univ-paris8.fr).lem was Maier's (1930) two-strings problem. Two strings are fixed far away enough from each other that it is difficult to reach one when hold...

Apperception in primed problem solving

“…Gibson (1979) uses the affordance concept to express something very similar (see also Glenberg and Robertson 2000). Finally, ''seeing as'' can be empirically connected to a mature research tradition, including the classic Gestalt experiments (Duncker 1935; see also Saariluoma 1990Saariluoma , 1992Saariluoma and Hohlfeld 1994;Saariluoma and Kalakoski 1998) and modern cognitive research on problem solving and (conceptual) transfer that revived many Gestalt notions (Chronicle et al 2004;Gibson 2004;Goldstone and Barsalou 1998;Ohlsson 1992;Sternberg and Davidson 1995;Zamani and Richard 2000).…”

Testing two cognitive theories of insight.

“…The passalong problem has an insight of similar complexity, where some starting states require that moves be made that initially move the figures away from their final positions (Zamani & Richard, 2000). The difficulty observed on these problems is because of self-imposed constraints or ideas placed on the problem by the problem solver.…”

Principles derived from the study of simple skills do not generalize to complex skill learning

“…In addition, observation may provide the learner with a better "picture" of how the various subcomponents of a complex task fit together to form the whole task. Just as analogies have been shown to reduce memory demands by providing a framework in which to organize memory (e.g., Anderson & Fincham, 1994;Fery & VomHofe, 2000;Zamani & Richard, 2000), observation may facilitate the structuring of the memories supporting the movements, thus effectively reducing the total memory demands. When the task demands are relatively simple, this may not be important, but when the demands are high and subcomponents must be properly integrated, the influence could be much larger.…”