Analysis and Empirical Studies of Derivational Analogy

Derivational analogy is a technique for reusing problem solving experience to improve problem solving performance. This research addresses an issue common to all problem solvers that use derivational analogy: overcoming the mismatches between past experiences and new problems that impede reuse. First, this research describes the variety of mismatches that can arise and proposes a new approach to derivational analogy that uses appropriate adaptation strategies for each. Second, it compares this approach with seven others in a common domain. This empirical study shows that derivational analogy is almost always more efficient than problem solving from scratch, but the amount it contributes depends on its ability to overcome mismatches y Support for this research was provided by the National Science Foundation under grant IRI-8620052, Apple Computer Corporation, Hughes Corporation, Digital Equipment Corporation, and GTE Research. This research was conducted in the Department of Computer ..