STRUCTURE MAPPING IN ANALOGY AND SIMILARITY

Analogy and similarity are often assumed to be distinct psychological processes. In contrast to this position, the authors suggest that both similarity and analogy involve a process of structural alignment and mapping, that is, that similarity is like analogy In this article, the authors first describe the structure-mapping process as it has been w orked out for analogy. Then, this view is extended to similarity, wher e it is used to generate new predictions. Finally, the authors explore broader implications of structural alignment for psychological proces sing.