Synthesized answer
The book "Analogy-Making as Perception" posits that analogy-making is essentially a high-level perceptual process. This process arises from the interaction between perception and concepts, which can lead to "conceptual slippages" that enable analogies to be formed [Passage 2].
The computer model Copycat is presented as a way to understand this complex, subconscious interaction between perception and concepts that drives analogy creation [Passage 2]. Within Copycat, both concepts and high-level perception are viewed as emergent phenomena. These emerge from a multitude of low-level, parallel, and non-deterministic activities [Passage 2]. Copycat is positioned as a cognitive modeling approach that sits between symbolic systems and connectionist systems, making it useful for comprehending the fluidity of concepts and high-level perception [Passage 1, Passage 2].
The passages do not explain all the key concepts in detail, but they highlight the premise that analogy-making is a perceptual process and introduce Copycat as a model for understanding this phenomenon.
Synthesized from the book passages below. Chat with the book on Feynman for follow-up.
From the book
inistic activities. In the spectrum of cognitive modeling approaches, Copycat occupies a unique intermediate position between symbolic systems and connectionist systems a position that is at present the most useful one for understanding the fluidity of concepts and high-level perception. -- Publisher description.
Title: Analogy-making as perception by Melanie Mitchell Description: The psychologist William James observed that "a native talent for perceiving analogies is ... the leading fact in genius of every order." The centrality and the ubiquity of analogy in creative thought have been noted again and again by scientists, artists, and writers, and understanding and modeling analogical thought have emerged as two of the most important challenges for cognitive science. Analogy-Making as Perception is based on the premise that analogy-making is fundamentally a high-level perceptual process in which…