Analogy

Analogies help highlight similarities between different situations. Sometimes they just help us make pretty prose and literary points; however, they can also help us with problem solving. Is analogical reasoning responsible for creative solutions and “aha!” moments of insight?

Primary Readings

Everyone should read these and be prepared to discuss.

• Gentner, D. (1983) | Structure-mapping: A theoretical framework for analogy. Cognitive Science, 7(2), 155-170.
• Slade, S. (1991). Case-based reasoning: A research paradigm. AI magazine, 12(1), 42-55.

Questions under discussion

• How is analogical reasoning different from similarity based reasoning?
• What real-world examples of case-based reasoning do you do?
• What real-world examples of case-based reasoning happen as part of modern professions?

Theory of Mind

“Here is how it works: first you decide to treat the object whose behavior is to be predicted as a rational agent; then you figure out what beliefs that agent ought to have, given its place in the world and its purpose. Then you figure out what desires it ought to have, on the same considerations, and finally you predict that this rational agent will act to further its goals in the light of its beliefs.” (Dennett, The Intentional Stance, 1996, p. 17).

This session will consider how people reason about others and how we might make machines that can do the same.

Questions under discussion

• Can you think of situations where people make the wrong theory of mind ascriptions (i.e. something with little or no mental life that we we assume does have it, and vice versa)?
• What are some challenges for developing artificial agents with theory of mind?
• What does theory of mind have to do with analogy?