Learning from Physical Analogies: A Study in Analogy and the Explanation Process.

Autor/in	Falkenhainer, Brian Carl
Institution	Illinois Univ., Urbana. Dept. of Computer Science.
Titel	Learning from Physical Analogies: A Study in Analogy and the Explanation Process.
Quelle	(1988), (274 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Monographie
Schlagwörter	Hochschulschrift; Dissertation; Analogy; Computer Software; Inferences; Learning Theories; Novelty (Stimulus Dimension); Physical Environment; Physics; Problem Solving; Qualitative Research + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Thesis; Dissertations; Academic thesis; Analogie; Inference; Inferenz; Learning theory; Lerntheorie; Natürliche Umwelt; Physik; Problemlösen; Qualitative Forschung
Abstract	Analogical reasoning and learning applied to the task of constructing qualitative explanations for physical phenomena are the subjects of this investigation. Two issues are addressed. The first is how analogies are elaborated to sanction new inferences about a novel situation. This issue is adddressed by contextual structure-mapping, a knowledge-intensive adaptation of D. Gentner's structure-mapping theory. This approach presents analogy elaboration as a map-and-analyze cycle, in which two situations are placed in correspondence, followed by problem solving and inference production focused on correspondence inadequacies. The second issue is the evaluation the quality of a proposed analogy and its use for some performance task. A theory of verification-based analogical learning is presented to address the tenuous nature of analogically inferred concepts, and procedures for increasing confidence in the inferred knowledge are described. Specifically, it relies on analogical inference to hypothesize new theories and simulation of those theories to analyze their validity. It represents a view of analogy as an iterative process of hypothesis formation, testing, and revision. These ideas are illustrated via PHINEAS, a computer program that uses similarity to posit qualitative explanations for time-varying descriptions of physical behaviors. It builds upon existing work in qualitative physics to provide a means with which to describe and reason with theories of the physical world. A 144-item list of references is included. (TJH)
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC