Analogical Thinking Research Articles

Contrasting tools of thought: Chinese correlations and Western analogies

ABSTRACT Typical modes of reasoning in the Chinese tradition have often been described by Western thinkers as ‘correlative’ or ‘analogical’ in contrast with the supposedly rational, Western mode of reasoning. However, analogical reasoning has a prominent place in much of pre-modern writing in the West, including philosophical, medical, and theological treatises. At a glance, some readers may note a similarity between Western analogical thinking and Chinese correlative (tongbian) thinking. However, closer inspection reveals that analogies in the Western tradition and Chinese correlations had very little in common. Analogical thinking in the West often relied on deeper causal relations (as in the Hippocratic tradition) or on underlying principles of similarity (as with Plato’s analogies). In contrast, Chinese tongbian thought often constructed correlative arguments based on patterns of similarity inherent in the world.

Models, Structures and Analogical Thinking in Early Childhood Education and Care and Primary School: A Qualitative Study on Teachers’ Perception about Those Concepts

The objective of this study was to investigate ECEC teachers and primary school teachers’ perspective about recognizing models, structures and using analogical thinking as a key to facilitate children’s learning process. Without discussing in-depth the definition of a mathematical structure or model, teachers reflected about the possibilities and the reasons why to use models, structures and an analogical approach in teaching. Both ECEC teachers and primary school teachers showed a comprehension about those concepts, but mainly related to a theoretical approach. The idea that recognizing structures and models can help to identify what is known and what is new when we try to solve a problem has been discussed. An analogical approach that can help teachers to sustain children in the transition from what is known and what is not has been evaluated, connected to the zone of proximal development (Vygotsky) and to scaffolding (Bruner). Reflections about the Framework Plan for Kindergartens and the Framework for basic skills in primary school are reported. Both ECEC teachers and primary school teachers evaluated the concepts of “models” and “structures” as important, agreeing with Van Hiele and Bartha’s definition. Both groups of teachers also recognized the importance of analogical thinking, where structures and models are useful for defining a starting point in the learning process.

The Voiding of Being: The Doing and Undoing of Metaphysics in Modernity by William Desmond

Reviewed by: The Voiding of Being: The Doing and Undoing of Metaphysics in Modernity by William Desmond Gaven Kerr The Voiding of Being: The Doing and Undoing of Metaphysics in Modernity. By William Desmond. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2020. Pp. 312. $65.00 (hard). ISBN: 978-0-8132-3248-5. In The Voiding of Being: The Doing and Undoing of Metaphysics in Modernity, William Desmond reflects on our loss of the wonder of being, which Plato asserted to be the beginning of all philosophy. Desmond traces this loss in various areas of human concern, but the diagnosis is always the same, namely, that this wonder is lost when we lose sight of the overdeterminateness of being in favor of either univocal determination or equivocal indetermination. The latter two tendencies can be seen at work mostly within modern and postmodern philosophy, in response to which Desmond advocates for a metaphysics of the between that is capable of thinking through such overdeterminancy without losing sight of the wonder at being by which we philosophize in the first place. The first chapter shares its title with the book, "The Voiding of Being." In this chapter, Desmond looks at the modern project of philosophy and observes how being is a concept that has been either dismissed or undermined, yet continues to reemerge from the burial site of metaphysics. In typical fashion, he resists the univocalizing tendencies that beset modernity, opting for a metaphysics of the between wherein univocity sits hand-in-hand with equivocity. He observes that in the ancient world there was a wonder at being. This wonder is in reaction to the too-muchness of being; being is overdeterminate, it exceeds our determinations. The challenge in philosophy is to render the astonishment at this intelligible and thereby come to terms with being; this is the classical project of metaphysics. Modern philosophers tend to univocalize, to pin down what cannot be pinned down, resulting in loss of being, or they equivocalize by thinking the overdeterminate as indeterminate and thereby void of intelligibility. Desmond proposes a metaphysics of the between, what he calls a "metaxological metaphysics" between univocal determination and equivocal indetermination—a metaphysics that thinks through the thereness of being as being other and its fullness in our midst. [End Page 167] Chapter 2 is titled "Analogy and the Fate of Reason." Herein Desmond considers the analogical turn in contemporary philosophy as a fruitful way of engaging with the overdeterminacy of being without replacing metaphysics with phenomenology. If there is any tradition of thought that seeks to strike a balance in the between of univocity and equivocity it is Aristotelian Scholasticism where analogy is the all-important factor. This analogy of being betrays an analogical reasoning which is at home with sameness in difference and does not tend to univocalize the likeness between God and creatures, nor to equivocalize their difference. Desmond traces the loss of this analogical thinking in modernity only to see ciphers of its reappearance in various places—for example, in Kant and Hegel. Desmond believes that in contemporary philosophy there is a space for a transdialectical reason, which does not shuttle from univocity to equivocity but, like analogical reason, is at home in and seeks to word the between; such a metaxological reason can ponder the porosity of philosophy and religion which has been closed by the unvocalizing tendencies of modernity. Chapter 3, "The Dearth of Astonishment: On Curiosity, Scientism, and Thinking as Negativity," engages with the wonder that Plato and Aristotle took to be the beginning of philosophy: a wonder in the face of being, of the too-muchness of being. Herein Desmond distinguishes between an astonishment in the face of the overdeterminate, a perplexity in the face of the indeterminate, and a curiosity for the determinate. We are initially astonished at the too-muchness of being, and this passes over into perplexity, seeing that the overdeterminacy of being escapes our grasp. Very easily this perplexity passes into a negative thinking by which we seek to render the indeterminate determinate; this leads to a curiosity for greater and greater determination. Desmond likens this curiosity for the determinate to the univocal thinking...

EMULATION TO THE NATURE IN BASIC DESIGN EDUCATION OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE

Aim: The main purpose of the study is to create a recreational spatial organization with basic design elements and principles by emulating nature in increasing visual literacy. With this study, it was aimed to stimulate students' imagination and make them design spatial organization by emulating geological rock sections in sustainable design approaches of rural landscape areas. Method: The process of producing solutions to the design problem given was carried out by using (i) 14-week basic design training, (ii) taking thin samples from geological rocks for petrographical studies, and (iii) the analogical thinking method which was the inspiration of Goldschmidt and Smallov (2006) and Cardoso and Badke-Schavub (2011) for the transformation of their ideas into forms. Findings: By analyzing the concepts related to the given problem, the solution of the design problem began, and the designers’ abstract ideas were concretized and handled within the framework of the concept. Students, who received the subject of study during the design process, completed the product they prepared in line with the basic design education they received in order to obtain a product from the concept whichthey created in their mind by emulating geological rock sections. The process was successfully completed by adding something to the obtained product, removing something from the obtained product, and combining something with the obtained product in this process. Result: The ability to have a versatile perspective in design education, which finds common ground forart and architecture education, is vital. This study showed that in architectural education, the design process can collaborate with different disciplines and that the products may be unique and sensitive to ecosystem services.

Logical and Analogical Thinking

The contrast between logical and analogical thinking is illustrated by the representative views of Frege and Nietzsche. These ways of thinking turn out to be expressions of different ways of conceiving the world. They stand for two opposing traditions of contemporary philosophy: scientific-analytic philosophy and postmodern deconstruction. Based on Wittgenstein's philosophy of language, it is argued that neither of the two perspectives is absolute, but that both should complement each other.

Quantum Matter on the Table: A Pretty, Simple Hands-on Activity

This paper introduces quantum materials and the notion of using models to aid the comprehension of complex ideas. It describes a hands-on activity, collaboratively developed by scientists and artists, that promotes an understanding of how experts take advantage of analogical thinking and model building to develop important frameworks. Quantum physics concepts provide an exciting way to introduce students to leading-edge research in atomic-level design of novel quantum materials.

The Philosophical Assumptions of Psychotherapy Science

According to the authors, there are two distinct sets of underlying philosophical presumptions of psychotherapy science today: mainstream, well-established assumptions drawing on empirism, determinism, reductionism and mechanism and relatively new, alternative ones, here traced back to the concepts of intentionality, wholeness and analogical thinking. The current state of affairs in this field is a result of historical developments in Western science. In the antiquity and Middle Ages, truth was based on confirmation by authority rather than empirical experience. Only from renaissance onwards, experiment became the primary tool. In the modern era, the objective truth was thus to be found through verifiable, repeatable observations by several individuals and repeated, repeatable and standardised measurements of phenomena. An understanding had arisen from experiments that there were simple rules behind all phenomena that could not be observed directly and that these laws were abstractions requiring ideal conditions. Therefore, it was necessary to disregard some conditions/factors deemed disruptive in experiments, regardless of their role under normal circumstances. This reductionist simplification made it possible to obtain generally applicable data. Physics (especially Newton’s rules of motion) played a major role in the development of this perspective and had had major methodological impact all other sciences.

The Philosophical Assumptions of Psychotherapy Science

According to the authors, there are two distinct sets of underlying philosophical presumptions of psychotherapy science today: mainstream, well-established assumptions drawing on empirism, determinism, reductionism and mechanism and relatively new, alternative ones, here traced back to the concepts of intentionality, wholeness and analogical thinking. The current state of affairs in this field is a result of historical developments in Western science. In the antiquity and Middle Ages, truth was based on confirmation by authority rather than empirical experience. Only from renaissance onwards, experiment became the primary tool. In the modern era, the objective truth was thus to be found through verifiable, repeatable observations by several individuals and repeated, repeatable and standardised measurements of phenomena. An understanding had arisen from experiments that there were simple rules behind all phenomena that could not be observed directly and that these laws were abstractions requiring ideal conditions. Therefore, it was necessary to disregard some conditions/factors deemed disruptive in experiments, regardless of their role under normal circumstances. This reductionist simplification made it possible to obtain generally applicable data. Physics (especially Newton’s rules of motion) played a major role in the development of this perspective and had had major methodological impact all other sciences.

构式“X+Num+VCL”的演变及构式化研究- 以计数动量词“下”、“回”、“次”为中心

This paper starts from the phenomenon of “mismatches” in which nouns and adjectives can also be used with momentum words (originally only with verbs), this paper takes the construction “X+Num+VCL” as the center and combines the basic theory of construction grammar to understand the general characteristics of each construction form, meanwhile, it also understands the semantic relationship between each construction. From the perspective of constructionalization, it studies the phenomenon of matching between form and semantics And the reasons for this phenomenon. Regarding the theory of construction grammar, starting with “constructionalization and constructional changes”, “three factors of construction (schematicity, productivity, compositionality)”, “construction gestalt system” and “inheritance link” involved in construction grammar, it is concluded that “X+Num+VCL” has different forms and meanings in different periods, forming the pairing of form_new-meaning_new, generating new nodes in network links, and the schematicity, productivity and compositionality of the three also showed gradients. According to the characteristics of the “x” component in the construction, we can get the inheritance relationship between them. The construction “V_Action+Num+VCL” is the original construction, It is also a productive construction. The construction “V_Abstract+Num+VCL”, “A+Num+VCL” and “N_{Instrument/Feature}+Num+VCL” all inherit some features of the original construction, The original construction causes the new construction and is called the rationale for the existence of the new construction. In the process of expanding from prototype to non-prototype, there are certain construction factors, which are the principle of maximum expressiveness, the most economical principle, the principle of analogy thinking and analogization, and the principle of suppression. In addition to these four construction factors, cognitive mechanism has also achieved the development of construction.

L’auto-confession de la terre

The Self-Confession Of The Earth. Growers of “natural wine” prove that relying on magical thinking can yet produce scientifically measurable results. The market of natural wine is a solid sociological and economical phenomena. And yet, behind concrete results, the expertise and the lore mobilised can rest on superstition or analogical thinking. Based on pragmatic material and participative methodologies, this article investigates the dynamics that allow magical practices to cause real, measurable consequences on a large-scale consumer good. It would like to expose more how this “indirect causation” allows natural winemakers and natural wine consumers to become a vehicle of nature for humans.

Design to Encourage Reframing and Transformations through Digital Story telling and Analogical Thinking

Design to Encourage Reframing and Transformations through Digital Story telling and Analogical Thinking

Fragmentation of thinking structure: concept construction and problem solving in geometry of junior high school students

Fragmentation is adopted from the term of inefficient data storage in a computer which is used to describe thinking fragmentation. The purpose of this study is to describe the fragmentation of geometrical concepts in junior high school classified into: hole construction, mis-connection, and mis-analogical construction. This study used descriptive qualitative research method with the subjects of 8th grade students in Surakarta. Data collection in this study was conducted by task-based interview method. Qualitative descriptive analysis through the stages of reduction, representation, and interpretation of data. Hole construction occurs when students do not construct concept completely (20%). Mis-connection occurs when students make mistake in making connections between concepts (40%). Mis-analogical construction occurs when students analogizing a concept with another concept in geometry which is a mistake (20%). From the analysis result, defragmentation of thinking structure in geometry can be done with scaffolding to bring up scheme, knite scheme, and improve of analogic thinking.

Electrophysiological correlates of interference control at retrieval predict performance on a subsequent analogical reasoning task

Previous research has shown that variations in the accessibility of relevant information that stem from retrieval practice may impair analogical reasoning. In the present study, we sought to examine the neural signatures of inhibitory control during selective retrieval and its effects on a subsequent analogical reasoning task by employing electrophysiological measures. At a behavioral level, we found that selective retrieval of a subset of potential solutions led to impaired performance on the analogy test. ERPs analyses during selective retrieval revealed that (1) the repeated presentation of retrieval cues was associated with decreased amplitudes for the FN400 ERP effect, possibly reflecting reduced reactivation of competitor associates and interference across retrieval attempts; (2) this effect correlated positively with the retrieval-related impairment in analogical reasoning performance. During the analogy test, the production of control solutions (non-affected by prior retrieval practice) was characterized by more positive modulations of anterior frontal and parietal ERPs than the production of unstudied solutions, whereas inhibited solutions elicited similar amplitudes to unstudied solutions. This effect was restricted to the retrieval phase of the analogy where the actual solutions had to be retrieved, but it did not affect the mapping phase where the accessibility status of the possible solutions failed to reveal significant amplitude differences. These findings suggest that control during selective retrieval may lead to the downregulation of competing memory representations and advance our understanding of the neural correlates of analogical thinking.

Analogical Methods in Legal Informatics

The law occurs in a dual mode: a basic mode and an expert mode. In the basic mode, people predominantly experience the law in a situational and not a textual way. The people on the street move according to the consuetudinary law. In the expert mode, the law goes up textually to the professional lawyer. It becomes mostly about argumentation in professional language rather than natural language. Digitalisation encompasses both these modes. The extent to which digitalisation is visible is another issue. We argue that analogical thinking continues to be important in law and that this must be considered in legal informatics.

Analogical reasoning and regulatory focus: using the creative process to enhance consumer-brand outcomes within a co-creation context

PurposeNew product development (NPD) is increasingly being delegated to consumers, yet little research has investigated consumer-centric factors that may influence this delegation. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to uniquely combine regulatory focus and analogical reasoning to investigate new product ideation and downstream consumer-brand responses.Design/methodology/approachA series of experiments were undertaken.FindingsStudy 1 revealed that promotion-focused consumers (as opposed to prevention-focused consumers) have significantly greater purchase intentions if given an analogical reasoning task before engaging in new product ideation due to their cognitive flexibility. Study 2 tested the effects of near vs far analogies and found that promotion-focused consumers use analogical thinking to a greater extent and have significantly higher purchase intentions if primed with far analogies because regulatory fit is enhanced. However, analogical thinking and purchase intentions significantly drop if primed with near analogies. In contrast, prevention-focused consumers use analogical thinking to a greater extent and have significantly higher purchase intentions if shown near analogies, compared to far analogies, because of improved regulatory fit. Both studies confirm a serial mediation chain involving task engagement, self-brand connection, and brand sincerity.Research limitations/implicationsThis research extends current understanding regarding the role of creative tasks within consumer NPD. It also uniquely links regulatory focus and consumer task engagement in NPD to increase favorable brand responses.Practical implicationsFindings offer managerial insights that can positively increase consumer-brand outcomes during NPD.Originality/valueThis is one of the first studies to demonstrate the importance of analogical thinking and consumer-centric factors (i.e., regulatory focus) during the NPD process. This avenue of research is important, as most studies have neglected ways in which to increase consumer NPD task engagement, leaving resources unutilized.

Peirce on Analogy

This paper explores Peirce’s concept of analogy. I begin by arguing that he understands it along two main lines: (1) as a natural cognitive operation that discerns the resemblance of structural relations, pivotally signified by the diagram sign-class, and (2) as a “mixed” form of argument employing abduction, deduction, and induction. After exploring these two aspects, along with their interpenetration, I compare Peirce’s account of analogous reasoning with the highly influential view of the late-Medieval scholastic Thomas Cajetan. I argue that Peirce presents a superior approach because his diagrammatic logic renders a view that is methodologically open to further inquiry, explains that openness in terms of inference through sampling, and capaciously accepts a variety of potential determinations for any one analogy due to the objective vagueness of signs. Cajetan’s appeal to the irreducible proportionality of analogous thinking, on the other hand, excludes further explanation of analogy’s workings.

How to Create Isomorphic Example-Problem Pairs for Facilitating Analogical Thinking

Worked-example and problem-solving are often paired and named as the example-problem learning method. This learning method is often recommended by cognitive load theorists, but not much thought has been given to what kind of problems should be used as the example-problem pairs. If there is no clear specification in using the method, as a result, there might be little to no improvement in students’ problem-solving ability. Particularly, the improvement of analogical thinking can be set as the goal of learning. Analogy comes when students can relate to their previous knowledge to solve new problems. In the example-problem learning method, the example can be acquired first and then regarded as the prior knowledge for students to solve the subsequent problem. As analogy is one of the problem-solving strategies, ultimately mastering analogy strategy can improve problem-solving ability. The problem is, analogy does not come naturally, hence a careful consideration about what kind of problems used during instruction is needed. In this paper, we propose the use of isomorphic problems— problems with the same solution procedures—in choosing the example-problem pair. We choose isomorphic problems because it suits example-problems learning and it is focused on improving student’s analogical thinking. We also propose the procedure in using the isomorphic problems.

Mathematically gifted student’s ways of thinking on fractions

This research aims to analyse mathematically gifted student’s ways of thinking on fractions learning. The respondent was one mathematically gifted student of the 7th graders in the junior high school. The research approach was qualitative. The data were collected through paper and pencil measure, observation, and interview. The data were analyzed by grounded theory with coding and constant comparison. The results showed five mathematical thinking types; those are quantification, schematization, symbolization, concretization and analogical thinking. The findings are then elaborated using some related theories to justify the results.

Magnetism concepts analogy for Pesisir (coastal) students education

The unique of magnet behaviour has been explored by many parties and attracted them to describe its characteristics using analogy. The use of magnetism concepts analogy are varies including those in the field of education. As a part of a research aiming to investigate culture-based elementary school students’ analogical thinking skill, a study on magnetism concepts analogy has been carried out. By using interview, documentary study and literature review methods, several analogies of magnetism concepts were generated with the basis of various sources of students’ cultural background and learning materials. This paper discusses the analogies, particularly those which can be delivered in elementary school science class, and their implication for education of Pesisir (costal) students. Based on the review and discussion, it was concluded that the analogies of magnetism concepts facilitate people with high educational values which can be put into practice in science learning for Pesisir area students.

Recalibrating categorisation

AbstractThis article explores how the notion of decreation manifests itself in the signifying strategies of Anne Carson’sDecreation: Poetry, Essays, Opera(2005). By revisiting Carson’s stereoscopic poetics and Wolfgang Iser’s branch of reader-response criticism, the article conceptualises these signification strategies, which include generic hybridity and multimodality, as guiding devices that usher the reader’s perspective towards a stereoscopic vision of sameness-in-otherness. These strategies can evoke a sense of ‘decreation’ by drawing the reader’s attention to the boundary between (apparent) incongruities whilst simultaneously encouraging the reader to forge previously unsuspected connections. The semiological argument proposed here concludes that the transcendence of this ‘edge’ by means of analogical thinking constitutes the metaphysical project of personal re-creation.