A form of inductive reasoning or logical inference based on the assumption that if two things are alike in some features, then they are probably alike in other respects. Analogous features are those with similar functions, but not necessarily similar structures. A well-worn example is drawing an analogy between the operation of a (digital) computer and the functioning of the brain. This was done for the first time at the famous Hixon Symposium in 1948 that heralded the birth of information-processing theories, and ultimately the cognitive revolution in psychology and related disciplines. As the example of the Hixon symposium shows, an analogy, like a metaphor, can serve as a preliminary heuristic device in scientific discourse that leads to a final theory. Analogies can be positive, negative or neutral. A positive analogy is where there are features in common between two different levels of organisation. A negative analogy refers to the ways in which two levels are not alike. A neutral analogy reflects ignorance about the features at both levels. Thus, for example, one may ask in what ways metamorphosis is a positive and negative analogy for ontogenetic development, and to what extent it is a neutral analogy.
See Analogical reasoning, Analogy (biology), Bridge law (or principle), Heuristic, Hixon symposium, Homology, Isomorphism, Levels of organization, Metamorphosis (or indirect development), Metaphor, Model, Orthogenetic principle, Tropes