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An Information-Processing Theory of Interactive Analogical Retrieval

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Computational Approaches to Analogical Reasoning: Current Trends

Part of the book series: Studies in Computational Intelligence ((SCI,volume 548))

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Abstract

Analogy is said to be ubiquitous in cognition. Since cognition is situated, it follows that analogical reasoning too is situated in external physical, social and informational environments. An essential first step in analogical reasoning is retrieval of a source case appropriate for the target situation. In this chapter, we study analogical retrieval in the context of biologically inspired design in which new technological designs are generated by cross-domain analogies to biological systems. We focus on the phenomenon of interactive analogical retrieval (IAR) wherein the source biological cases are obtained through interaction with online information environments. We first provide a description of IAR based on two in situ studies of biologically inspired design in an educational setting. We then describe an information-processing theory called PRISM that provides an explanation of IAR. The PRISM theory builds on the Pirolli’s [49] Information Foraging Theory and Thagard et al.’s [56] computational model of Analogical Retrieval by Constraint Satisfaction. If we take the boundary of the cognitive system in biologically inspired design as including online information environments, then the phenomenon of IAR becomes an important element of understanding the situatedness of analogical reasoning. By folding in interactions with external information environments, PRISM may provide a starting point for developing a general information-processing theory of situated analogy.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Michael Helms and Bryan Wiltgen for their contributions to this work. We are grateful to the instructors and students of the ME/ISyE/MSE/BME/BIOL 4740 class, especially Professor Jeannette Yen, the main coordinator and instructor of the course. We thank the US National Science Foundation for its support through the CreativeIT Grant (#0855916) “Computational Tools for Enhancing Creativity in Biologically Inspired Engineering Design.”

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  1. Design and Intelligence Laboratory, School of Interactive Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30308, USA

    Swaroop S. Vattam & Ashok K. Goel

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  1. Swaroop S. Vattam
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Correspondence to Swaroop S. Vattam .

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  1. IRIT-CNRS, University of Toulouse, Toulouse, France

    Henri Prade

  2. IRIT-CNRS, University of Toulouse, Toulouse, France

    Gilles Richard

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Vattam, S.S., Goel, A.K. (2014). An Information-Processing Theory of Interactive Analogical Retrieval. In: Prade, H., Richard, G. (eds) Computational Approaches to Analogical Reasoning: Current Trends. Studies in Computational Intelligence, vol 548. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-54516-0_13

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