How analogies are generated: The roles of structural and superficial similarity

Laboratory studies of analogical reasoning have shown that subjects are mos tly influenced by superficial similarity in the retrieval of source analogs . However, real-world investigations have demonstrated that people generate analogies using deep structural features. We conducted three experiments t o determine why laboratory and real-world studies have yielded different re sults. In the first two experiments, we used a "production paradigm" in whi ch subjects were asked to generate sources for a given target. Results show that the majority of the analogies that were generated displayed low level s of superficial similarity with the target problem. Moreover, most of the analogies were based on complex underlying structures. The third experiment used a "reception paradigm" methodology. The subjects had to retrieve pred etermined sources instead of generate their own. In this case, retrieval wa s largely constrained by surface similarity. We conclude that people san us e structural relations when given an appropriate task and that this ability has been underestimated in previous research on analogy.