Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 6, 2026

A Psychophysics Paradigm for the Collection and Analysis of Similarity Judgments
Published on: March 1, 2022
Structural alignment in similarity and difference judgments
1Department of Psychology, Columbia University, 406 Schermerhorn Hall, 10027, New York, NY, markman@psych.columbia.edu.
Abstract:
Similarity is a central construct in models of cognitive processing, and as such has been the focus of psychological inquiry. This work has revealed that similarity and difference judgments are not always inverses. One explanation for this effect is that similarity judgments focus on matching relations between the items, while difference judgments focus on the mismatching attributes. A second explanation is that both similarity and difference judgments involve a process of structural alignment, and that they use the output of this process differently. These views are contrasted by using the one-shot mapping technique that places attribute similarity and relational similarity in competition. The results suggest that similarity and difference judgments both involve structural alignment.
Related Concept Videos
Causes of Similarity-Dissimilarity Effect
Factors Influencing Attraction III: Similarity
The Anchoring-and-Adjustment Heuristic
Self-Discrepancy Theory
Structural Classification of Joints
A fibrous joint is where the adjacent bones are united by fibrous connective...
Stereoisomerism
Isomers are different chemical species that have the same chemical formula.
Transition metal complexes often exist as geometric isomers, in which the same atoms are connected through the same types of bonds but with differences in their orientation in space. Coordination complexes with two different ligands in the cis and trans positions from a ligand of interest form isomers. For example, the octahedral [Co(NH3)4Cl2]+ ion has two isomers (Figure 1) In the cis...

