Partial analogical transfer in problem solving: Roles of centrality and order

Abstract

Antonietti (1991) first presented the idea of partial analogies in solving an ill-defined problem. Prior to that, studies looking into the role of analogies in problem solving used complete analogies. Antonietti concluded that partial analogies helped problem solving only when all the cues were present and presented in the correct order. The conditions for partial analogy to work as identified by Antonietti seem to be overly stringent. Partial analogy should be effective in most situations as most analogical cues available in daily life are partial in nature. This study therefore looks into the role of analogical transfer of partial analogies. Our study differs from Antonietti (1991) in a few ways. First, as it is logical to assume that some analogical cues are more crucial than the others, the notion of centrality of an analogy was examined. Second, we also revisited if analogical cues have to be presented in the exact order in order to be effective. Finally, we presented the partial analogies as problems for participants to solve rather than disguised them as arithmetic problems.