Derivational Analogy

Transformational analogy does not look at how the problem was solved -- it only looks at the final solution.

The history of the problem solution - the steps involved - are often relevant.

Carbonell (1986) showed that derivational analogy is a necessary component in the transfer of skills in complex domains:

• In translating Pascal code to LISP -- line by line translation is no use. You will have to reuse the major structural and control decisions.
• One way to do this is to replay a previous derivation and modify it when necessary.
• If initial steps and assumptions are still valid copy them across.
• Otherwise alternatives need to found -- best first search fashion.