Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research and Everyday Experience, 3rd Edition

Using Analogies to Solve Problems • 345

Gentner and Goldin-Meadow’s experiment involved a problem in nego-

tiation. In the fi rst part of the experiment, participants were taught about the

negotiation strategies of trade-off and contingency. The strategy of trade-off is

illustrated by a story about two sisters quarreling over an orange. Eventually

they decide to compromise by cutting the orange in half. However, later they

realize that one wanted just the juice and the other wanted just the peel, so

another solution would be for one sister to receive the juice, and the other

the peel. The trade-off between juice and peel is a better solution than the

compromise solution because both sisters get what they want. (This story

is attributed to management consultant Mary Parker Follet in Gentner &

Goldin-Meadow, 2003.)

The strategy of contingency is illustrated by a situation in which an author

wants 18 percent royalties, but the publisher wants to pay only 12 percent. The

compromise solution would be halfway between, at 15 percent. The contingent

solution would be to tie royalties to sales, so that the rate would be 12 percent

if sales are low, but would increase if sales rise to higher levels.

After being familiarized with these negotiating strategies, one group of par-

ticipants received two sample cases, both of which described trade-off solutions.

The participants’ task was to compare these two cases to arrive at a successful

negotiation. Another group did the same thing, but their examples involved the

contingency principle. Then both groups were given a new case, which poten-

tially could be solved by either negotiating principle.

The results of this experiment are shown in ● Figure 12.18. When presented

with the new test problem, participants tended to use the negotiating strategy

that was emphasized in the sample cases they had read previously. Gentner con-

cluded from these results that having people compare source stories is an effec-

tive way to get them to pay attention to structural features that enhance their

ability to solve other problems.

ANALOGY IN THE REAL WORLD

So far, our examples of analogy problems have involved laboratory research. But what

about the use of analogy in the real world? Many real-world examples of analogical

problem solving illustrate what Kevin Dunbar (2001) has called the analogical para-

dox: Participants in psychological experiments tend to focus on surface features in anal-

ogy problems, whereas people in the real world frequently use deeper, more structural

features. Dunbar reached this conclusion by using a technique called in vivo research.

In vivo problem-solving research involves observing people to determine how they solve

problems in real-world situations. This method has been used to study the use of analogy in a

number of diff erent settings, including laboratory meetings of a university research group and

brainstorming sessions in which the goal was to develop a new product. Discussions recorded

Contingency group

Trade-off group

New test problem

percent participants responding

Sample cases

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

Contingency

solutions

Trade-off

solutions

●FIGURE 12.18 Results of Gentner
and Goldin-Meadow’s (2003) study of
negotiating strategies. In the test case,
participants who had compared trade-off
examples were more apt to fi nd trade-
off solutions, whereas those who had
compared contingency examples were
more apt to fi nd contingency solutions.
(Source: Based on D. Gentner & S. Goldin-Meadow,
Eds., Language in Mind, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press,
2003.)

TABLE 12.3 Insuffi cient-Intensity Version: Structural Features Diff erent

Problems Surface Features Structural Features

Source problem: Insuffi cient-intensity

version of lightbulb problem: Laser

beams are too weak to fuse fi lament.

Laser beam and

fi lament

Need high-intensity radiation, but

intensity of individual laser is too

low.

Target problem: Radiation problem Rays and tumor Need high-intensity radiation

to fi x tumor without damaging

surrounding body with a high-

intensity beam.

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