Object encoding, goal similarity, and analogical transfer

Abstract

Although the importance of goal similarity and similarity of encoding are well known in analogical transfer literature, there has never been a study in which one of these factors was maintained constant and the other manipulated. This point was studied in our first experiment. The results show that the interaction between the two factors is not significant. However, the width of the credibility intervals suggests that it is difficult to conclude that there is either a presence or an absence of an interaction. The second experiment concerned more directly the impact of the encoding process on recognition of analogy. The results show that analogical transfer can be highly dependent on the way subjects interpret problems and that the encoding process can be influenced by the visual characteristics of the problems. These results can be related to a recent body of research on the importance of interpretive effects on analogy, as well as to the categorization literature.