Figural Analogies

An analogy is defined as reasoning or explaining from parallel cases. In other words, an analogy is a comparison between two different things that highlight some point of similarity. For children, analogical reasoning is assessed through pictures or figural elements. Analogy questions require children to infer a relationship between the first two items and then select an item that completes the second relationship the same way. Figural analogies are considered by many experts to be the purest form of analytical reasoning. Figural analogies, unlike many other skills, do not require prior knowledge or a formal education. They do not involve addition or subtraction, applying principles of algebra, or mastery of the English language. However, what they do require is attention to detail and careful searching through information to spell out relationships, which is the core of analytical reasoning. In figural analogies, a set of geometric shapes is presented. The first figure is related to the second figure, in the same way the third figure will be related to one of the answers. The objective is to solve the analogy problem. Analogies can be presented in several forms, but the matrix form is one of the most common for standardized tests. 125 questions in increasing difficulty are presented. Figural analogies can be classified into seven types. It is important for children to understand different types of analogies before moving on to problems where multiple analogy types are utilized.