Problem Solving: Deduction, Induction, and Analogical Reasoning

This article defines similarities and differences between ‘Deduction,’ ‘Induction,’ and ‘Analogical reasoning.’ Deduction represents a form of general reasoning—If A holds for all Bs and X is a B, then X holds for A too—for example, ‘All men are mortal. If B is a man, then B is mortal.’ In contrast, inductive reasoning only applies to some examples of A, for example, ‘It often snows in winter. It is winter now. There is a high probability that we'll have snow.’ Analogical reasoning relies on given statements and similar consequences from past experiences, e.g., ‘A shark in the ocean behaves like a wolf in the forest.’ Similar behavior is to be expected in both cases because of the animals' similarity as beasts of prey. Problem-solving procedures include all three of these reasoning techniques. They produce new information from older and often well-known forms of knowledge.