340 • CHAPTER 12 Problem Solving
Using Analogies to Solve Problems
A person is faced with a problem and wonders how to proceed. Questions such as
“What move should I make?” or “How should I begin thinking about this problem?”
arise. One tactic that is sometimes helpful is to consider whether another problem that
the person has solved before is similar to the new problem, and ask “Can I apply the
same methods to solving this problem?” This technique of using the solution to a simi-
lar problem to guide solution of a new problem is called analogical problem solving.
Using the Russian marriage problem to help solve the mutilated checkerboard
problem is an example of an effective use of analogy to solve a problem. Research on
analogical problem solving has considered some of the conditions in which using analo-
gies to solve problems is effective.ANALOGICAL TRANSFER
The starting point for much of the research on analogical problem solving has been to
fi rst determine how well people can transfer their experience from solving one problem
to solving another, similar problem. This transfer from one problem to another is called
analogical transfer. To study analogical transfer, participants who are trying to solve a
target problem are presented with a problem or a story, called the source problem or
source story, that shares some similarities with the target problem and that illustrates a
way to solve the target problem.
The mutilated checkerboard problem described in the last section provides an
example of analogical transfer. The checkerboard problem is the target problem, and
the Russian marriage problem is the source problem. In this example, evidence that
analogical transfer occurs is provided when presentation of the Russian marriage prob-
lem enhances the ability to solve the mutilated checkerboard problem. In this example,
analogical transfer is good, because participants readily see that the principle governing
the solution of the Russian marriage problem is similar to the principle that needs to be
applied to solve the checkerboard problem. However, as we will now see, good analogi-
cal transfer does not always occur.ANALOGICAL PROBLEM SOLVING
AND THE DUNCKER RADIATION PROBLEM
A problem that has been widely used in research on analogical problem solving is KarlDuncker’s Radiation Problem
Suppose you are a doctor faced with a patient who has a malignant tumor in his stomach. It
is impossible to operate on the patient, but unless the tumor is destroyed the patient will die.
There is a kind of ray that can be used to destroy the tumor. If the ray reaches the tumor at
a suffi ciently high intensity, the tumor will be destroyed. Unfortunately, at this intensity the
healthy tissue that the ray passes through on the way to the tumor will also be destroyed. At
lower intensities the ray is harmless to healthy tissue, but it will not aff ect the tumor either.
What type of procedure might be used to destroy the tumor and at the same time avoid destroy-
ing the healthy tissue (Gick & Holyoak, 1980)?If after thinking about this problem for a while, you haven’t come up with a suit-
able answer, you are not alone. When Duncker (1945) originally posed this problem,
most of his participants could not solve it, and Mary Gick and Keith Holyoak (1980,Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.