Functionality in Analogical Transfer: A Hard Match Is Good to Find

This article is concerned with the study of analogy and memory as viewed from the perspectives of both artificial intelligence (AI) and psychology. Its aim is to combine what seem to be two distinct and conflicting approaches to memory–the functional approach of AI and the empirical approach of psychology–and propose a unified view that does not compromise the nature of either field yet resolves the existing conflicts between them. To do this we propose a shift away from the narrow view of analogical reminding as an isolated memory behavior and toward a more general view of memory as a process that serves the needs of planning, problem solving, and understanding. This shift involves changes to both the functional arguments that have arisen in AI and a reexamination of the empirical evidence that has been presented in psychology.