Kaldy, Z. (1996). What does the cow drink? Review of D. R. Hofstadter: Fluid concepts and creative analogies. Hungarian Psychological Review (Magyar Pszichológiai Szemle), 53, 186-198. (In Hungarian)

Using several examples from Douglas Hofstadter’s book, this review introduces the idea that analogies are fundamental tools for studying concepts and concept formation. The process of analogy making starts with a pattern-recognition phase in a given conceptual domain, which is followed by an interpolation phase in a new conceptual domain. Building actual computer models of this process requires a testable psychological theory of concepts. Hofstadter and his research team have developed a theory that combines ideas from cognitivism and connectionism and they have implemented it in a handful of different computer programs. Using one of these projects, Copycat, as an example, this review analyzes the theory and compares Hofstadter’s work to similar attempts in cognitive science, such as Dedre Gentner’s analogy making program. Certain problems are also pointed out, such as the psychological validity of these programs and the question of how to evaluate the computer’s solutions.