Analogical Prob Solv

Analogical Problem Solving

How good are we at finding relevant prior experience?

Using background knowledgeGick & Holyoak (1980)Had people read a story about a general attacking a fortress.The roads around the fortress were minedGeneral split up his forces and had them converge on the fortress from many directions.Later in the study, they were given Dunckers radiation problemDoctor with patient who has an inoperable tumorRays strong enough to kill the tumor would damage the healthy tissueWhat should the doctor do?

Access failureAbout 10% of people solve the radiation problem spontaneouslyAbout 30% of people solve it if they first read the story about the generalNot much of a gain.Is this an access problem or a use problem?If given a hint to use the earlier stories, about 90% of people solve the problem.Suggests that it was an access problem.

Analogical accessFinding relevant background knowledge is hardThere are many possible experiences that might be relevantWhich ones are most likely to be relevant?Situations that are similar to ones you have seen before.

Similarity is goodIn many cases, using highly similar background knowledge is good.Purchase decisionsKnowing what brand of pickles you buy will not help you decide what ketchup to buy.Science (Dunbar)Microbiologists use results from one bacterium to decide what studies to do on another bacterium.It is rare that distant similarities are useful.

Retrieving analogsGentner, Rattermann, & ForbusPeople read a storyHawk gives feathers to hunter for arrows in exchange for hunter not shooting hawk.Later, people read another story:Similar (S): Eagle gives feathers to archerMere Appearance (MA): Eagle flies near archery tournamentAnalogy (AN): One country gives missile guidance systems to another in exchange for not attacking it.No Match (NM): One country has rivers, another does not.People given S and MA retrieve storyPeople rate S and AN as similar

Models of accessHow do we access analogies?Many models have been developedMost of them are two-stage models.Stage 1: Search through memory to find things that are generally similarThings from the same domain are often retrievedOnly a small number of items pass this filterStage 2: Find things that are analogousDetermining analogies is effortfulDo this task only on items that pass stage 1

Access and useSimilarities may also affect use of knowledgeWord problems (Ross)Retrieval affected by domain similarityBoth similar and cross-mapped examples retrievedPeople found it hard to apply cross-mapped examples.

Sheet1

Type:ExampleSimilarCross-mappedOther domain

ContextGolfGolfGolfPizza

Thing assignedCaddiesCaddiesPlayersChildren

Who assigned toPlayersPlayersCaddiesCups

Sheet2

Sheet3

Sheet1





Sheet2

Sheet3

Sheet1





Sheet2

Sheet3

Sheet1





Sheet2

Sheet3

Sheet1





Sheet2

Sheet3

Overcoming access problemsExperts are better at analogical retrievalThey are better at finding good analogiesThey are less influenced by cross-mappingsForming a schema may help accessComparing a few analogs during learning helps retrievalLearning about subgoals may help accessAn example may be indexed by the sub-problems that it helps to solve.

Case-based reasoningAn Artificial Intelligence techniqueSolves problems based on known episodesStages of Case-based reasoningAccessAdaptationEvaluationUpdating of memory

CHEF: An exampleSzechuan cooking (Hammond)Had a failure cooking beef and broccoliBroccoli came out soggyRetrieve past knowledge about similar failuresOther cases of soggy vegetablesFind a case of beef and snow peasWhen cooking beef, notice that meat sweatsSolution in that case: Cook vegetables first, put them aside, then cook beef.Adapt case to current situation

Documents

Analogical Prob Solv