Although the importance of goal similarity and similarity of encoding are w
ell known in analogical transfer literature, there has never been a study i
n which one of these factors was maintained constant and the other manipula
ted. This point was studied in our first experiment. The results show that
the interaction between the two factors is not significant. However, the wi
dth 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 r
ecognition of analogy. The results show that analogical transfer can be hig
hly dependent on the way subjects interpret problems and that the encoding
process can be influenced by the visual characteristics of the problems. Th
ese results can be related to a recent body of research on the importance o
f interpretive effects on analogy, as well as to the categorization literat
ure.