Analogy and Cognition

Boicho Kokinov

New Bulgarian University

 

This course discusses the place of analogy in human cognition: is it a specific cognitive process of reasoning or is it a very basic mechanism at the core of human cognition. It presents some of the most popular models of analogy-making as well as recently proposed integrated models of analogy and perception, analogy and memory. It will contrast various approaches and will present experimental material in support of the models.

 

 

Class 1.          Examples of Analogy. Types of Analogy. Basic components of Analogy-Making.

Required readings:

Holyoak, K., Gentner, D., Kokinov, B. (2001). The Place of Analogy in Cognition. In: Gentner, D., Holyoak, K., Kokinov, B., eds. The Analogical Mind: Perspectives from Cognitive Science. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Hofstadter, D. (2001). Analogy as the Core of Cognition. In: Gentner, D., Holyoak, K., Kokinov, B., eds. The Analogical Mind: Perspectives from Cognitive Science. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

 

Additional readings:

Kokinov, B. – Analogy-Making: Psychological Data and Computational Models. In: Kokinov, B. (ed.) Perspectives on Cognitive Science, vol. 2, NBU Press, 1996

Kokinov, B., French, R. (2002). Computational Models of Analogy-Making. In: Lynn Nadel (ed.) Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science. Macmillan, Nature Publishing Group.

Oden, D., Thompson, R., Premack, D. (2001). Can an Ape Reason Analogically? Comprehension and Production of Analogical Problems by Sarah, a Chimpanzee. In: Gentner, D., Holyoak, K., Kokinov, B. (eds.) The Analogical Mind: Perspectives from Cognitive Science, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Goswami, U. (2001). Analogical Reasoning in Children. In: Gentner, D., Holyoak, K., Kokinov, B. (eds.) The Analogical Mind: Perspectives from Cognitive Science, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

 

 

Class 2.          Classical Models of Analogy-Making Components

·      Structure-Mapping Theory

·      Constraint-Satisfaction Theory

·      ARCS and MAC/FAC

 

Required readings:

Gentner, D. (1983) Structure-Mapping: A Theoretical Framework for Analogy, Cognitive Science 7(2), pp. 155-170

Holyoak, K. & Thagard, P. (1989b) Analogical Mapping by Constraint Satisfaction. Cognitive Science, vol. 13, pp. 295-355

 

Additional readings:

Gentner, D. (1989) The Mechanisms of Analogical Learning. In: Vosniadou, S., Ortony, A. (eds.) Similarity and Analogical Reasoning, New York, NY: Cambridge Univ. Press

Gentner, D. & Markman, A. (1997). Structure Mapping in Analogy and Similarity. American Psychologist, 52 (1), 45-56.

Forbus, K. (2001). Exploring Analogy in the Large. In: Gentner, D., Holyoak, K., Kokinov, B., eds. The Analogical Mind: Perspectives from Cognitive Science. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Thagard, P., Holyoak, K., Nelson, G., Gochfeld, D. (1990). Analog Retrieval by Constraint Satisfaction. Artificial Intelligence, vol. 46, pp. 259-310.

Forbus K., Gentner D. & Law, K (1995). MAC/FAC: A Model of Similarity-Based Retrieval. Cognitive Science, 19, pp. 141-205.

Holyoak, K. & Koh, K. (1987) Surface and Structural Similarity in Analogical Transfer. Memory and Cognition, vol. 15(4), pp. 332-340

 

 

Class 3. Integrated Models of Analogy-Making

·      CopyCat and TableTop: Mapping and Perception

·      LISA: Distributed Representation Model of Retrieval and Mapping:

 

Required readings:

Hofstadter, D. & Mitchell, M. (1994) The Copycat Project: A Model of Mental Fluidity and Analogy-Making. In: Holyoak, Barnden — Advances in Connectionist and Neural Computation Theory, vol.1, Analogical Connections. Ablex

Hummel, J. & Holyoak, K. (1997). Distributed Representations of Structure: A Theory of Analogical access and Mapping. Psychological Review, 104 (3), 427-466.

 

Additional readings:

Chalmers, D., French, R., Hofstadter, D. (1992) High-Level Perception, Representation, and Analogy: A Critique of Artificial Intelligence Methodology. JETAI, vol. 4(3), reprinted in: Kokinov (ed.) Perspectives on Cognitive Science, vol. 1, NBU Press.

French, R., Hofstadter, D. (1991) Tabletop: An Emergent, Stochastic Model of Analogy-Making. In: Proceedings of the 13th Annual Cognitive Science Conference, reprinted in: Kokinov (ed.) Perspectives on Cognitive Science, vol. 1, NBU Press.

Hofstadter, D., French, R., (1992) Probing the Emergent Behavior of Tabletop. In: Proceedings of the 14th Annual Cognitive Science Conference, reprinted in: Kokinov (ed.) Perspectives on Cognitive Science, vol. 1, NBU Press.

Holyoak, K. & Hummel, J. (2001). Toward an Understanding of Analogy within a Biological Symbol System. In: Gentner, D., Holyoak, K., Kokinov, B., eds. The Analogical Mind: Perspectives from Cognitive Science. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

 

 

Class 4.          DUAL  & AMBR1: An Context-Sensitive Model of Analogy-Making

Required readings:

Kokinov, B. (1994) A Hybrid Model of Reasoning by Analogy. In: Holyoak, Barnden — Advances in Connectionist and Neural Computation Theory, vol.2, Analogical Connections. Ablex

Additional readings:

Kokinov, B. - The DUAL Cognitive Architecture: A Hybrid Multi-Agent Approach. In: A. Cohn (ed.) Proceedings of ECAI’94. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., London, 1994.

Kokinov, B. -  The Context-Sensitive Cognitive Architecture DUAL. In: Proceedings of the 16th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, 1994.

Kokinov, B., Grinberg, M. (2001). Simulating Context Effects in Problem Solving with AMBR. In: Akman, V., Thomason, R., Bouquet, P. (eds.) Modeling and Using Context. Lecture Notes in Computer Science (Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence), vol. 2116, Berlin: Springer Verlag.

 

Class 5. AMBR2: An Integrated and Interactionist Model of Mapping and Retrieval

Required readings:

Kokinov, B., Petrov, A. (2001) Integration of Memory and Reasoning in Analogy-Making: The AMBR Model. In: Gentner, D., Holyoak, K., Kokinov, B. (eds.) The Analogical Mind: Perspectives from Cognitive Science, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Additional readings:

Kokinov, B., Zareva-Toncheva, N. (2001). Episode Blending as Result of Analogical Problem Solving. In: Proceedings of the 23rd Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ.

Kokinov, B. Petrov, A. (2000). Dynamic Extension of Episode Representation in Analogy-Making in AMBR. In: Proceedings of the 22nd Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ.

Petrov, A., Kokinov, B. (1999). Processing Symbols at Variable Speed in DUAL: Connectionist Activation as Power Supply. In: Dean, T. (ed.) Proceedings of the 16th International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence. San Francisco, CA: Morgan Kaufman, p. 846-851

Kokinov, B. (1998). Analogy is like Cognition: Dynamic, Emergent, and Context-Sensitive. In: Holyoak, K., Gentner, D., Kokinov, B. (eds.) – Advances in Analogy Research: Integration of Theory and Data from the Cognitive, Computational, and Neural Sciences. Sofia: NBU Press.

Petrov, A., Kokinov, B. (1998). Mapping and Access in Analogy-Making: Independent or Interactive? A Simulation Experiment with AMBR. In: Holyoak, K., Gentner, D., Kokinov, B. (eds.) – Advances in Analogy Research: Integration of Theory and Data from the Cognitive, Computational, and Neural Sciences. Sofia: NBU Press.

 

Seminars

During the seminars experimental and simulation work will be planed and discussed.

 

Assessment

Students will be assessed on the basis of their written paper (about 1500 words).

 

Boicho Kokinov

 

Boicho Kokinov has obtained his PhD from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. He is currently an Associate Professor in Cognitive Science at the New Bulgarian University and the Director of its Center for Cognitive Science. His research interests include general cognitive architectures (author of the DUAL cognitive architecture), human thinking, including problem solving, decision-making, judgment, analogy-making as well as human memory, more specifically constructive approach to episodic memory, he is also interested in how context changes human thinking and memory. He has edited “The Analogical Mind”, “Constructive Memory”, “Cognitive Economics”, “Perspectives on Cognitive Science Series”.