Analogies in Science

Synonyms

Analog; Analogies; Scientists; Target

Analogies help scientists and everyday people make sense of the natural phenomena that surround them. We have an everyday object, event, or story that is well understood – this is called an analog, and a science concept to which it is compared called the target. Links – called mappings – are then made between the analog and the target. Mappings can be positive, ways in which the target is like the analog; negative, ways in which the target is not like the analog; and neutral, when it is not clear whether the target is or is not like the analog.

A visualization of mapping by Duit (1991) shows there may be identical features in parts of the analog (R1) and target (R2); the model (Rm) then represents similarity – with analogy (A) representing the relation between analog and target (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1

Duit’s model for analogical transfer by mapping (This material is reproduced from Duit, R., 1991, Science Education, 75(6): p. 650, with permission...