No description available.

The goal of the research reported in this thesis is to explore analogical reasoning in complex situations. In three manuscripts, novel aspects of analogy use are investigated. In Manuscript 1, analogies used in a political campaign were analyzed with the framework developed in the analogical reasoning literature. Results show a number of novel features of analogy use. The majority of source analogs used were not superficially similar to the target problem, most of the mappings between source and target were implicit, and emotion appeared to be an important feature in the selection of source analogs. In Manuscript 2, three experiments were conducted that explored some of the effects uncovered in the first study. In these experiments, participants were asked either to generate their own source analogs in relation to a target problem or to retrieve a source from a predetermined set. Results show that when generating their own sources, people are not constrained by superficial similarity. However, when asked to retrieve from a predetermined set of sources, participants retrieve based on surface similarity. These results suggest that previous studies may have underestimated people's ability to use structural features in analogical retrieval. The research reported in Manuscript 3 explores the impact of analogical inferences on the representations of target problems. Descriptions of target problems were presented followed by potential source analogs. Results show that people engage in analogical mapping and draw inferences. These inferences, that were not presented, are incorporated in people's representation of the target and cannot be differentiated from information that was actually presented. People falsely recognize analogical inferences as having been presented when in fact they had not. Results from all these studies are discussed in terms of the novel insights they contribute to the analogy literature and in terms of their implications for theoretical models of

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Hamburg, 1973. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 349-361).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Queensland, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Hamburg, 1973. / Vita. Bibliography: p. 349-361.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Dept. of Philosophy, Interpretation, and Culture, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.

This paper is a synthesis of several sets of ideas: ideas about learning from precedents and exercises, ideas about learning using near misses, ideas about generalizing if-then rules, and ideas about using censors to prevent procedure misapplication. The synthesis enables two extensions to an implemented system that solves problems involving precedents and exercises and that generates if-then rules as a byproduct . These extensions are as follows: If-then rules are augmented by unless conditions, creating augmented if-then rules. An augmented if-then rule is blocked whenever facts in hand directly demonstrate the truth of an unless condition, the rule is called a censor. Like ordinary augmented if-then rules, censors can be learned. Definition rules are introduced that facilitate graceful refinement. The definition rules are also augmented if-then rules. They work by virtue of unless entries that capture certain nuances of meaning different from those expressible by necessary conditions. Like ordinary augmented if-then rules, definition rules can be learned. The strength of the ideas is illustrated by way of representative experiments. All of these experiments have been performed with an implemented system.

Design-by-Analogy is an approach that is widely embraced by engineers and designers seeking innovative designs. The identification of analogies for use in engineering design problems is usually a spontaneous action that is brought about by accident and not by a systematic design process applied during the idea generation stage of new product development. A Design-by-Analogy method developed to lead designers systematically to analogies that can be useful for solving design problems is the WordTree Method. The WordTree Method uses the semantic relationships between verbs, extracted from design problems, to lead engineers and designers to potentially useful analogies. The WordTree Method is a relatively new design method, and as with any new design method, there is room for improvement. In this thesis, a tool called WordTree Express (WTE) was developed to automate the generation of the database-based WordTrees used during the application of the WordTree Method. This tool (WTE) showed, from an experiment, that its implementation had a positive effect on the opinions of the engineers and designers who used it for solving a design problem. The effects found from surveying the participants suggested that the participants were more likely to apply the method in their future design problems with the WTE tool than when they applied the method without the WTE tool. Although the WTE tool did not show statistical significance (p<0.1) in increasing the number of analogies identified by the participants, compared to the non-automated method, it did enable the process of identifying analogies to be done faster. Tools designed to perform tasks faster and more efficiently usually tend to have a positive effect on its users. Different ontologies were studied for their value in the application to Design-by-Analogy in engineering. Recommendations for further work advancing the WordTree Method and contributions to Design-by-Analogy are presented in the future work section.

Thesis (Th. M.)--Western Seminary, Portland, OR, 2003. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 106-108).