A new way of investigating cognition is proposed that combines naturalistic
(in vivo) and experimental (in vitro) methods into a single approach. Inve
stigating analogical reasoning by scientists 'live' at laboratory meetings
(in vivo) we found that the types of analogies they use change with their g
oals. Unlike subjects in many cognitive 'reminding' experiments, scientists
frequently used structural similarities in their analogies, as opposed to
superficial similarities. By subsequently using the in vitro approach, we f
ound that the use of structural information was associated with being asked
to generate analogies and with the use of complex scenarios. Similar resul
ts are obtained in other areas of reasoning such as hypothesis testing and
causal reasoning.