Use analogies to transfer structure from known to unknown
Map an unfamiliar concept onto a familiar one that shares the same relational structure.
Why it works
Analogies work by structural alignment: the brain maps relationships from a source domain it knows well onto a target domain it is learning. This is not surface similarity — it is relational similarity. Good analogies speed encoding and problem-solving by borrowing inferences from the known domain; bad ones mislead by importing irrelevant surface features.
How to do it
- Identify what you find genuinely confusing about the new concept.
- Ask: "What system I already understand has the same pattern of relationships?"
- Explicitly map each component: "X in the new domain is like Y in the familiar domain because both…"
- Find where the analogy breaks down — this teaches the concept’s unique features.
Evidence
Analogical reasoning is among the most studied forms of reasoning. Research by Gentner and colleagues shows that structural analogies, as opposed to superficial ones, reliably accelerate learning of novel concepts and problem-solving. Gentner’s structure-mapping theory supplies the mechanism: it is the alignment of relational structure between source and target — not shared surface attributes — that carries the inferences an analogy transfers. (observational)
Analogies can mislead when learners treat them as identities rather than partial mappings. The breakdown point of the analogy is as instructive as the overlap.
Sources
- Gentner (1983), structure-mapping: a theoretical framework for analogy, Cognitive Science
- Gentner, D. (1983). Structure-mapping: A theoretical framework for analogy. Cognitive Science, 7(2), 155–170.
Common mistake
Stopping at the analogy rather than finding where it breaks — which leaves learners with a distorted model that applies the source domain’s rules where they don’t hold.
Practice this with IX Coach
More practices for Concrete Examples: How to Make Abstract Ideas Stick
- Generate your own example after learning a concept
Immediately after encountering a concept, create a fresh example from your own life or field.
- Use multiple varied examples to map the concept’s true shape
Three different examples reveal what one example hides — the edges of the concept.
- Cycle from concrete to abstract and back
Start with a story, name the principle, then return to a new application.
- Expose examples before naming the rule (inductive first)
Present several cases before stating the principle; let the learner induce the pattern.
- Label what each example is an example of
Explicitly tag every example with the concept it illustrates to prevent "inert knowledge."
- Non-examples: teaching what a concept is not
Non-examples are near-miss cases that look like a concept but fail one defining feature — studying them fixes the boundary examples alone leave vague.
Related concepts
- Make It Stick: The Science of Learning
Retrieval, spacing, interleaving, and elaboration — the evidence-backed core
- Desirable Difficulties: When Harder Means Better Learning
The difficulties worth keeping — and the ones to remove
- Dual Coding: Learn With Words and Pictures Together
Two channels, two routes to memory — when visuals actually help
- The Feynman Technique, Step by Step
Explain it simply, find the gaps, and close them