During the process of analog transfer A match is produced between the analogous problem and the objective problem in their structural and superficial aspects according to a restriction imposed by the reasoner’s plans. He maintains that the process of analogical transfer is determined by the goals of the reasoner and the principle of restriction in analogical transfer will be pragmatic and not syntactic.
The recovery processes of the previous analogue and its transfer will depend on both the synchronous rules (specific to the situation) and diachronic rules (the rules of this type of reasoning). Structural principles play a secondary role in analogical transfer, stating that the pairing is determined by the importance of its predicates (attributes and relations) in close relation to the ends or objectives of the subject.
This theory, as a model for problem solving, understands that the domains are represented, on an abstract level, according to a scheme (hierarchically organized) consists of:
- initial state: its components are causally related to the solution plan.
- solution plan
- results
It consists of vertical relationships or causal chains and horizontal correspondences. The goal is the reason, made possible by the resources, and the constraints prevent other alternative solution plans. In this theory, 5 processes are distinguished:
- Construction of mental representations: Mental representations of the analogue domain and the target domain are constructed through encoding, a crucial step to determine the potential source analogue and is the beginning of the basic categorization and the search to achieve the objective.
- Selection of the relevant analogue: It is the selection of the source problem as a potentially relevant analogue for the target problem.
It is the 1st step in the use of the analogy itself, and can be identified through 2 basic procedures:
- the transformation of the objective problem
- the recovery of a related situation stored in memory.
Model to explain this process: “sum of activation”: the recovery of an analogue is a function of the characteristics shared by the problems, and the most useful analogue is the one that shares with the target problem the properties of the ends of the problem, the concepts. The activation of the features will be added until a certain threshold is reached in one of the stored representations, which is when they will be available for processing.
Relationship extrapolation: The extrapolation of representation components from the source domain to the target domain.
It is done in 2 phases:
- Partial extrapolation between some of the components of the initial state of both problems
- Extrapolation of correspondences between the elements that make up the goals, resources and operators. 4.
Generation of solution rules
It is the extension of extrapolation to the generation of rules that can be applied to the objective to achieve a solution thanks to the transfer of knowledge to the objective domain to generate these new rules.
Induction of new representational schemes
If the analogy leads to a correct solution, this process of induction of a scheme from analogues can occur. It involves the abstraction of the common aspects between initial states, solution plans and results of the different analogues. It can be interpreted as the analog transfer process, being the one that best contributes to the success of transfer from remote domains.
Holland (same as Gentner): the recovery process should be guided by structural characteristics, so that only relevant situations are recovered. (If the recovery is done based on superficial characteristics, similar but irrelevant situations, a negative transfer and an incorrect solution can be recovered). In situations that are unfamiliar to the subjects, it is difficult for us to distinguish between both types of cues (superficial and structural) and in reality both could influence us. This theory considers that the basic aspects of analogical reasoning for problem solving are:
- The principle that regulates the similarity between problems (source and objective) is pragmatic, they are the goals of the subject.
- The superficial and structural characteristics intervene in the recovery process and the extrapolation process, although the superficial ones have a greater impact on the recovery process.
- The goal is the essential criterion for the selection of shared characteristics.
- The analogy can be established from the concepts, the relational structure and the attributes of the objects, keeping the context in mind.
- The solution to a problem is the learning of a general rule (scheme).