Time course of comparison.

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Similarity as interactive activation and mapping (SIAM), a model of the dynamic course of similarity comparisons, is presented. According to SIAM, when structured scenes are compared, the parts of one scene must be aligned, or placed in correspondence, with the parts from the other scene. Emerging correspondences influence each other in a manner such that, with sufficient time, the strongest correspondences are those that are globally consistent with other correspondences. Relative to globally inconsistent feature matches, globally consistent feature matches influence similarity more when greater amounts of time are given for a comparison. A common underlying process model of scene alignment accounts for commonalities between different task conditions. Differences between task conditions are accounted for by principled parametric variation within the model. The similarity of some situations is immediately apparent. The basis for the similarity of the The Odyssey and The Iliad is clear at once (both are Greek epic poems). Recognizing the commonalities between The Odyssey and The Wizard of Oz, however, is a relatively slow process. The time course of similarity assessments provides a useful tool for investigating the process by which entities are compared. These time course data inform questions concerning how entities are mentally represented and have important implications for theories of similarity. In this article, we present a model of similarity comparison that makes specific time course predictions, which were tested in three experiments. Before turning to that model, we first outline the need for a consideration of similarity processes.