analogy - A systematic comparison between structures that uses properties of and relations between objects of a source structure to infer properties of and relations between objects of a target structure.

Analogy is an important kind of thinking, contributing to such cognitive tasks as explanation, planning, and decision making. Analogical arguments are sometimes used in philosophy, for example to argue that there exist other minds analogous to one's own. In artificial intelligence, analogy is often called case-based reasoning.

Paul Thagard

References

Gentner, D., & Markman, A. B. (1997). Structure mapping in analogy and similarity. American Psychologist, 52, 45-56.

Holyoak, K. J., & Thagard, P. (1995). Mental leaps: Analogy in creative thought. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press/Bradford Books. [bookstore]

Kolodner, J. (1993). Case-based reasoning. San Mateo, CA: Morgan Kaufmann. [bookstore]

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