By Alexander Brittain
College students have a huge responsibility in their first year of college. They are expected to achieve academic goals that they set prior to starting the school year. There are many cognitive psychology strategies that can be used to exel in the classroom. By using these strategies you will utilize your time studying and learning in the classes you take. The strategy that I am going to talk about is how to solve problems using analogies. Analogies are used to reach a goal by utilizing past information. Analogies play a key role in problem-solving, decision-making, perception, and more.
Analogy
Analogical reasoning is the ability to recognize and compare prior information to new learned information. Analogies are the key to higher-order cognition. Analogies are seen with the same similarities across a wide spread of elements. When you are a child, you start to learn the ability to use analogies. As you grow older, you will start to use analogies without even realizing you’re doing it. With analogies, you can analyze the parallels in different situations. The more information you gather, the easier it will be to connect the analogies(1).
Analogical Mapping and Visuals
Analogical mapping is used to build a base of information and then used to analyze a different situation by predicting the outcomes. Mapping creates a model to base your main information on. For example, the mitochondria is the furnace or powerhouse of the cell. They use an analogy to explain that a mitochondria stores energy and heat just like a furnace would. This comparison is a very common analogy used in science classes. Mapping and realizing similarities is way easier than using literal analogies that may confuse some people. Making these comparisons can make learning a lot easier(4). The picture below explains mapping in further detail:
Analogical Encoding
Analogical encoding is comparing two problems and finding the similarities between them in specific situations. The surface features of a problem are the specific components of the problem. Structural features are the main principles that control the solution of the problem. Analogies can be used in the real world and in other isolated settings. In a lab or classroom, people tend to look at the surface features of a problem because every little bit of information is important. Whereas when you’re in the real world you tend to look at structural features of a problem because you care more about solving the problem. When you are a kid, you start to learn these real world analogical reasoning strategies. As you gain more knowledge, you start to have more information to relate back too. This is the key build up to your cognitive development. As you grow up you start to work on your comparing skills and this will start to make analogical mapping easier. By the time you are an adult you will have experienced a lot of analogical situations(3).
Analogical Learning
Analogies are used universally by scientists, teachers, students, and anyone else that needs to solve problems. The most common users of analogies are teachers. Teachers incorporate their own analogies into their lessons to make learning easier for their students. The teachers make the comparisons to scenes that the students can relate too. This is a key strategy for learning in the classroom. Some students even create their own analogies and write them down as their notes. Comparing similar elements is a great way of studying for tests and doing your homework as well(2). Some more examples of analogies are as follows: structure of an atom compared to the solar system, nucleus is the brain of the cell, the immune system is like a police force.
Conclusion
Analogical ability is the key to higher-order reasoning and learning. We use analogies everyday to compare our prior knowledge to something new to us. Analogies are a great way to remember and learn new information in the classroom as well. Great discoveries have been made involving the modeling and structure of cognitive analogies. There is still a lot of unknown information about the errors of analogical reasoning. As the studies about analogies continue, we will learn to better understand the role that analogies play in our cognitive experience.
References
- Beveridge, M., & Parkins, E. (1987). Visual representation in analogical problem solving. Memory & Cognition, 15(3), 230-237. doi:10.3758/bf03197721
- Gentner, D. (1989). The mechanisms of analogical learning. Similarity and Analogical Reasoning, 199-241. doi:10.1017/cbo9780511529863.011
- Gick, M. L., & Holyoak, K. J. (1980). Analogical problem solving. Cognitive Psychology, 12(3), 306-355. doi:10.1016/0010-0285(80)90013-4
- Pedone, R., Hummel, J. E., & Holyoak, K. J. (2001). The use of diagrams in analogical problem solving. Memory & Cognition, 29(2), 214-221. doi:10.3758/bf03194915
- Vosniadou, S. (2003). Similarity and analogical reasoning. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press.