Analogy As the Core of Cognition
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Using Analogy to Learn About Phenomena at Scales Outside Human Perception Ilyse Resnick1*, Alexandra Davatzes2, Nora S
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Springer - Publisher Connector Resnick et al. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications (2017) 2:21 Cognitive Research: Principles DOI 10.1186/s41235-017-0054-7 and Implications ORIGINAL ARTICLE Open Access Using analogy to learn about phenomena at scales outside human perception Ilyse Resnick1*, Alexandra Davatzes2, Nora S. Newcombe3 and Thomas F. Shipley3 Abstract Understanding and reasoning about phenomena at scales outside human perception (for example, geologic time) is critical across science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Thus, devising strong methods to support acquisition of reasoning at such scales is an important goal in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education. In two experiments, we examine the use of analogical principles in learning about geologic time. Across both experiments we find that using a spatial analogy (for example, a time line) to make multiple alignments, and keeping all unrelated components of the analogy held constant (for example, keep the time line the same length), leads to better understanding of the magnitude of geologic time. Effective approaches also include hierarchically and progressively aligning scale information (Experiment 1) and active prediction in making alignments paired with immediate feedback (Experiments 1 and 2). Keywords: Analogy, Magnitude, Progressive alignment, Corrective feedback, STEM education Significance statement alignment and having multiple opportunities to make Many fundamental science, technology, engineering, and alignments are critical in supporting reasoning about mathematic (STEM) phenomena occur at extreme scales scale, and that the progressive and hierarchical that cannot be directly perceived. For example, the Geo- organization of scale information may provide salient logic Time Scale, discovery of the atom, size of the landmarks for estimation. -
Analogical Processes and College Developmental Reading
Analogical Processes and College Developmental Reading By Eric J. Paulson Abstract: Although a solid body of research is analogical. An analogical process involves concerning the role of analogies in reading processes the identification of partial similarities between has emerged at a variety of age groups and reading different objects or situations to support further proficiencies, few of those studies have focused on inferences and is used to explain new concepts, analogy use by readers enrolled in college develop- solve problems, and understand new areas and mental reading courses. The current study explores ideas (Gentner, & Colhoun, 2010; Gentner & Smith, whether 232 students enrolled in mandatory (by 2012). For example, when a biology teacher relates placement test) developmental reading courses the functions of a cell to the activities in a factory in in a postsecondary educational context utilize order to introduce and explain the cell to students, analogical processes while engaged in specific this is an analogical process designed to use what reading activities. This is explored through two is already familiar to illuminate and explain a separate investigations that focus on two different new concept. A process of mapping similarities ends of the reading spectrum: the word-decoding between a source (what is known) and a target Analogy appears to be a key level and the overall text-comprehension level. (what is needed to be known) in order to better element of human thinking. The two investigations reported here build on understand the target (Holyoak & Thagard, 1997), comparable studies of analogy use with proficient analogies are commonly used to make sense of readers. -
Technology & Computer Science
The Latticework: Technology & Computer Science The Latticework: Technology & Computer Science 1 The Latticework: Technology & Computer Science What I noted since the really big ideas carry 95% of the freight, it wasn’t at all hard for me to pick up all the big ideas from all the big disciplines and make them a standard part of my mental routines. Once you have the ideas, of course, they are no good if you don’t practice – if you don’t practice you lose it. So, I went through life constantly practicing this model of the multidisciplinary approach. Well, I can’t tell you what that’s done for me. It’s made life more fun, it’s made me more constructive, it’s made me more helpful to others, it’s made me enormously rich, you name it, that attitude really helps… …It doesn’t help you just to know them enough just so you can give them back on an exam and get an A. You have to learn these things in such a way that they’re in a mental latticework in your head and you automatically use them for the rest of your life. – Charlie Munger, 2007 USC Gould School of Law Commencement Speech 2 The Latticework: Technology & Computer Science Technology & Computer Science Technology has been the overriding tidal wave in the last several centuries (maybe millennia, if tools like plows and horse bridles are considered) and understanding the fundamentals in this field can be helpful in seeing the patterns behind these innovations, how they were arrived at, and their potential impacts. -
Demonstrative and Non-Demonstrative Reasoning by Analogy
Demonstrative and non-demonstrative reasoning by analogy Emiliano Ippoliti Analogy and analogical reasoning have more and more become an important subject of inquiry in logic and philosophy of science, especially in virtue of its fruitfulness and variety: in fact analogy «may occur in many contexts, serve many purposes, and take on many forms»1. Moreover, analogy compels us to consider material aspects and dependent-on-domain kinds of reasoning that are at the basis of the lack of well- established and accepted theory of analogy: a standard theory of analogy, in the sense of a theory as classical logic, is therefore an impossible target. However, a detailed discussion of these aspects is not the aim of this paper and I will focus only on a small set of questions related to analogy and analogical reasoning, namely: 1) The problem of analogy and its duplicity; 2) The role of analogy in demonstrative reasoning; 3) The role of analogy in non-demonstrative reasoning; 4) The limits of analogy; 5) The convergence, particularly in multiple analogical reasoning, of these two apparently distinct aspects and its philosophical and methodological consequences; § 1 The problem of analogy and its duplicity: the controversial nature of analogical reasoning One of the most interesting aspects of analogical reasoning is its intrinsic duplicity: in fact analogy belongs to, and takes part in, both demonstrative and non-demonstrative processes. That is, it can be used respectively as a means to prove and justify knowledge (e.g. in automated theorem proving or in confirmation patterns of plausible inference), and as a means to obtain new knowledge, (i.e. -
Reading List
EECS 101 Introduction to Computer Science Dinda, Spring, 2009 An Introduction to Computer Science For Everyone Reading List Note: You do not need to read or buy all of these. The syllabus and/or class web page describes the required readings and what books to buy. For readings that are not in the required books, I will either provide pointers to web documents or hand out copies in class. Books David Harel, Computers Ltd: What They Really Can’t Do, Oxford University Press, 2003. Fred Brooks, The Mythical Man-month: Essays on Software Engineering, 20th Anniversary Edition, Addison-Wesley, 1995. Joel Spolsky, Joel on Software: And on Diverse and Occasionally Related Matters That Will Prove of Interest to Software Developers, Designers, and Managers, and to Those Who, Whether by Good Fortune or Ill Luck, Work with Them in Some Capacity, APress, 2004. Most content is available for free from Spolsky’s Blog (see http://www.joelonsoftware.com) Paul Graham, Hackers and Painters, O’Reilly, 2004. See also Graham’s site: http://www.paulgraham.com/ Martin Davis, The Universal Computer: The Road from Leibniz to Turing, W.W. Norton and Company, 2000. Ted Nelson, Computer Lib/Dream Machines, 1974. This book is now very rare and very expensive, which is sad given how visionary it was. Simon Singh, The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography, Anchor, 2000. Douglas Hofstadter, Goedel, Escher, Bach: The Eternal Golden Braid, 20th Anniversary Edition, Basic Books, 1999. Stuart Russell and Peter Norvig, Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach, 2nd Edition, Prentice Hall, 2003. -
SKETCHING, ANALOGIES, and CREATIVITY on the Shared
J. S. Gero, B. Tversky and T. Purcell (eds), 2001, Visual and Spatial Reasoning in Design, II Key Centre of Design Computing and Cognition, University of Sydney, Australia, pp. SKETCHING, ANALOGIES, AND CREATIVITY On the shared research interests of psychologists and designers ILSE M. VERSTIJNEN, ANN HEYLIGHEN, JOHAN WAGEMANS AND HERMAN NEUCKERMANS K.U.Leuven Belgium Abstract. Paper and pencil sketching, visual analogies, and creativity are intuitively interconnected in design. This paper reports on previous and current research activities of a psychologist (the 1st author) and an architect/designer (the 2nd author) on issues concerning sketching and analogies, and analogies and creativity respectively. In this paper we tried to unite these findings into a combined theory on how sketching, analogies, and creativity interrelate. An appealing theory emerges. It is hypothesized that with no paper available or no expertise to use it, analogies can be used to support the creative process instead of sketches. This theory, however, is a tentative one that needs more research to be confirmed. 1. Sketching Within creative professions, mental imagery often interacts with paper and pencil sketching. Artists and designers (among others) frequently engage into sketching and, without any proper paper available, will often report frustration and resort to newspaper margins, back of envelops, beer mats or the like. Although anecdotally, this frustration seems to be quite common, and demonstrates the importance of paper and pencil sketching as a necessary aid to mental imagery. Paper and pencil sketches are one form of externalization of mental images, and therefore can inform us about characteristics of these images. -
Review of Le Ton Beau De Marot
Journal of Translation, Volume 4, Number 1 (2008) 7 Book Review Le Ton Beau de Marot: In Praise of the Music of Language. By Douglas R. Hofstadter New York: Basic Books, 1997. Pp. 632. Paper $29.95. ISBN 0465086454. Reviewed by Milton Watt SIM International Introduction Busy translators may not have much time to read in the area of literary translation, but there are some valuable books in that field that can help us in the task of Bible translation. One such book is Le Ton Beau de Marot by Douglas Hofstadter. This book will allow you to look at translation from a fresh perspective by way of various models, using terms or categories you may not have thought of, or realized. Some specific translation techniques will challenge you to think through how you translate, such as intentionally creating a non-natural sounding text at times to give it the flavor of the original text. This book is particularly pertinent for those who are translating poetry and wrestling with the occasional tension between form and meaning. The author of Le Ton Beau de Marot, Douglas Hofstadter, is most known for his 1979 Pulitzer prize- winning book Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid (1979) that propelled him to legendary status in the mathematical/computer intellectual community. Hofstadter is a professor of Cognitive Science and Computer Science at Indiana University in Bloomington and is the director of the Center for Research on Concepts and Cognition, where he studies the mechanisms of analogy and creativity. Hofstadter was drawn to write Le Ton Beau de Marot because of his knowledge of many languages, his fascination with the complexities of translation, and his experiences of having had his book Gödel, Escher, Bach translated. -
A Reading List for Undergraduate Mathematics Majors: a Personal View Paul Froeschl University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Humanistic Mathematics Network Journal Issue 8 Article 12 7-1-1993 A Reading List for Undergraduate Mathematics Majors: A Personal View Paul Froeschl University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.claremont.edu/hmnj Part of the Mathematics Commons Recommended Citation Froeschl, Paul (1993) "A Reading List for Undergraduate Mathematics Majors: A Personal View," Humanistic Mathematics Network Journal: Iss. 8, Article 12. Available at: http://scholarship.claremont.edu/hmnj/vol1/iss8/12 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Claremont at Scholarship @ Claremont. It has been accepted for inclusion in Humanistic Mathematics Network Journal by an authorized administrator of Scholarship @ Claremont. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A Reading List for Undergraduate Mathematics Majors A Personal View PaulFroeschJ University ofMinnesota Minneapolis, MN This has been a reflective year. Early in 4. Science and Hypothesis, Henri Poincare. September I realized that Jwas starting my twenty- fifth year of college teaching. Those days and 5. A Mathematician 's Apol0D'.GR. Hardy. years of teaching were ever present in my mind One day in class I mentioned a book (I forget 6. HistOO' of Mathematics. Carl Boyer. which one now) that I thought my students There are perhaps more thorough histories, (mathematics majors) should read before but for ease of reference and early graduating. One of them asked for a list of such accessibility for nascent mathematics books-awonderfully reflective idea! majors this histoty is best, One list was impossible, but three lists 7. HistorY of Calculus, Carl Boyer. -
Aristotle's Concept of Analogy and Its Function in the Metaphysics By
Aristotle’s Concept of Analogy and its Function in the Metaphysics by Alexander G. Edwards Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts at Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia August 2016 © Copyright by Alexander G. Edwards, 2016 for my parents, Jeff and Allegra τὸ δυνατὸν γὰρ ἡ φιλία ἐπιζητεῖ, οὐ τὸ κατ’ ἀξίαν· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἔστιν ἐν πᾶσι, καθάπερ ἐν ταῖς πρὸς τοὺς θεοὺς τιμαῖς καὶ τοὺς γονεῖς· οὐδεὶς γὰρ τὴν ἀξίαν ποτ’ ἂν ἀποδοίη, εἰς δύναμιν δὲ ὁ θεραπεύων ἐπιεικὴς εἶναι δοκεῖ. – EN VIII.14 ii Table of Contents Abstract iv List of Abbreviations Used v Acknowledgements vi Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Chapter 2: Analogy, Focality, and Aristotle’s concept of the analogia entis 4 Chapter 3: The Function of Analogy within the Metaphysics 45 Chapter 4: Conclusion 71 Bibliography 74 iii Abstract This thesis aims to settle an old dispute concerning Aristotle’s concept of analogy and its function in the Metaphysics. The question is whether Aristotle’s theory of pros hen legomena, things predicated in reference to a single term, is implicitly a theory of analogy. In the Middle Ages, such unity of things said in reference to a single source, as the healthy is said in reference to health, was termed the analogy of attribution. Yet Aristotle never explicitly refers to pros hen unity as analogical unity. To arrive at an answer to this question, this thesis explores Aristotle’s concept of analogy with an eye to its actual function in the argument of the Metaphysics. As such, it offers an account of the place and role of analogy in Aristotelian first philosophy. -
Analogical Thinking for Idea Generation to Some Extent, Everyone Uses Analogies As a Thinking Mechanism in Daily Life (Holyoak & Thagard, 1996)
Interdisciplinary Journal of Information, Knowledge, and Management Volume 11, 2016 Cite as: Kim, E., & Horii, H. (2016). Analogical thinking for generation of innovative ideas: An exploratory study of influential factors. Interdisciplinary Journal of Information, Knowledge, and Management, 11, 201-214. Retrieved from http://www.informingscience.org/Publications/3539 Analogical Thinking for Generation of Innovative Ideas: An Exploratory Study of Influential Factors Eunyoung Kim and Hideyuki Horii Center for Knowledge Structuring, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan [email protected]; [email protected] Abstract Analogical thinking is one of the most effective tools to generate innovative ideas. It enables us to develop new ideas by transferring information from well-known domains and utilizing them in a novel domain. However, using analogical thinking does not always yield appropriate ideas, and there is a lack of consensus among researchers regarding the evaluation methods for assessing new ideas. Here, we define the appropriateness of generated ideas as having high structural and low superficial similarities with their source ideas. This study investigates the relationship be- tween thinking process and the appropriateness of ideas generated through analogical thinking. We conducted four workshops with 22 students in order to collect the data. All generated ideas were assessed based on the definition of appropriateness in this study. The results show that par- ticipants who deliberate more before reaching the creative leap stage and those who are engaged in more trial and error for deciding the final domain of a new idea have a greater possibility of generating appropriate ideas. The findings suggest new strategies of designing workshops to en- hance the appropriateness of new ideas. -
Douglas R. Hofstadter: Extras
Presidential Lectures: Douglas R. Hofstadter: Extras Once upon a time, I was invited to speak at an analogy workshop in the legendary city of Sofia in the far-off land of Bulgaria. Having accepted but wavering as to what to say, I finally chose to eschew technicalities and instead to convey a personal perspective on the importance and centrality of analogy-making in cognition. One way I could suggest this perspective is to rechant a refrain that I’ve chanted quite oft in the past, to wit: One should not think of analogy-making as a special variety of reasoning (as in the dull and uninspiring phrase “analogical reasoning and problem-solving,” a long-standing cliché in the cognitive-science world), for that is to do analogy a terrible disservice. After all, reasoning and problem-solving have (at least I dearly hope!) been at long last recognized as lying far indeed from the core of human thought. If analogy were merely a special variety of something that in itself lies way out on the peripheries, then it would be but an itty-bitty blip in the broad blue sky of cognition. To me, however, analogy is anything but a bitty blip — rather, it’s the very blue that fills the whole sky of cognition — analogy is everything, or very nearly so, in my view. End of oft-chanted refrain. If you don’t like it, you won’t like what follows. The thrust of my chapter is to persuade readers of this unorthodox viewpoint, or failing that, at least to give them a strong whiff of it. -
The Ubiquity of Analogy in Mathematical Thought Douglas R
THE FIELDS INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH IN MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES The Nathan and Beatrice Keyfitz Lectures in Mathematics and the Social Sciences The Ubiquity of Analogy in Mathematical Thought Douglas R. Hofstadter, Indiana University March 21, 2013 — 6:00 p.m. Room 610, Health Sciences Building, University of Toronto Mathematicians generally like to present their work in the wraps of extreme rigor and pure logic. This professional posture is in some ways very admirable. However, where do their ideas really come from? Do they strictly follow the straight-and-narrow pathways of pure, rigorous, logical axiomatic deduction in order to reach their often astonishing conclusions? No. This talk will be about how deeply and universally mathematical thought, at all levels of sophistication, is riddled with impure, nonrigorous, illogical intuitions originating in analogies, often highly unconscious ones. Some of these analogies are good and some of them are bad, but good or bad, it is they that lurk behind the scenes of all mathematical thought. What is curious, to my mind, is that so few mathematicians seem to take pleasure in examining and exploring this crucial and wonderful aspect of their minds, their thoughts, and their deep discoveries. Perhaps, however, they can be stimulated to examine their own hidden thinking processes if the ubiquity of analogies can be made sufficiently vivid as to grab their interest. About Douglas Hofstadter Douglas R. Hofstadter is an American professor of cognitive science whose research focuses on the sense of “I”, consciousness, analogy-making, artistic creation, literary translation, and discovery in mathematics and physics. He is best known for his book Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid, first published in 1979.