Journal article
Jason T. Jameson, D. Gentner
2003
2003
Semantic Scholar
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Cite
APA
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Jameson, J. T., & Gentner, D. (2003). Mundane Comparisons Can Facilitate Relational Understanding.
Chicago/Turabian
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Jameson, Jason T., and D. Gentner. “Mundane Comparisons Can Facilitate Relational Understanding” (2003).
MLA
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Jameson, Jason T., and D. Gentner. Mundane Comparisons Can Facilitate Relational Understanding. 2003.
BibTeX Click to copy
@article{jason2003a,
title = {Mundane Comparisons Can Facilitate Relational Understanding},
year = {2003},
author = {Jameson, Jason T. and Gentner, D.}
}
Abstract
This paper addresses the role of comparison in highlighting relational structure. Specifically, we investigated whether even literal similarity comparisons (where both objects and relations match) can lead to a focus on common relations over equally suitable object matches. Whereas previous studies have demonstrated the highlighting of relations during analogical comparisons (where only relations match), the study presented in this paper suggests that even literal similarity comparisons can promote relational focus. In addition, we explore the role of types of comparison tasks (listing commonalities or listing differences). This extension follows naturally from structure-mapping theory, which predicts that in certain cases, listing differences between two things can actually lead to a heightened focus on the structure common to both.
