Work

Modelling Analogies and Analogical Reasoning: Connecting Cognitive Science Theory and NLP Research

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Analogical reasoning is an essential aspect of human cognition. In this paper, we summarize key theories about the processes underlying analogical reasoning from the cognitive science literature and relate it to current research in natural language processing. While these processes can be easily linked to concepts in NLP, they are generally not viewed through a cognitive lens. Furthermore, we show how these notions are relevant for several major challenges in NLP research, not directly related to analogy solving. This may guide researchers to better optimize relational understanding in text, as opposed to relying heavily on entity-level similarity.

Source: Transactions of the Association for Computational Linguistics

DOI: 10.1162/tacl.a.632

Authors: Molly R. Petersen, Claire E. Stevenson, Lonneke van der Plas

Institutions: Dalle Molle Institute for Artificial Intelligence Research, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Università della Svizzera italiana, University of Amsterdam

Language: English

Topic: Topic Modeling

Subfield: Artificial Intelligence

Field: Computer Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: diamond

Funder: Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung

Awards: Towards Creative systems with LINGuistic modelling (C-LING), G5831154965