MAT For Dummies

Chapter 2

Analogies from A to Z

In This Chapter

Getting familiar with analogical thinking

Looking at MAT analogy categories

One of the nice things about the MAT (if you can call a standardized test nice) is that, even though you're facing 120 questions, you have to prepare for only one question type: the analogy. Solving analogies tests your critical thinking skills and vocabulary skills, as well as your understanding of the relationships between analogy terms.

This chapter gives you an overview on analogies and analogical thinking, helps you determine whether the MAT is right for you, and introduces the major MAT analogy relationshipcategories.

Analogical Thinking 101

People use analogies all the time in everyday speech. Analogies convey meaning by drawing comparisons. For example, you may say, "Trying to change my boss's mind is like banging my head against a brick wall." Banging your head against a wall is painful and futile, which illustrates how you feel about trying to change your boss's mind.

On a standardized test, an analogy is a word problem composed of two different pairs of terms. The word problem is set up to reveal one set of terms first. Those two terms are related to each other in some way. The problem then gives you the first term of the second pair and asks you to choose a second term to complete that pair. This second term must be related to the first term in the same manner in which the first pair of terms is related.

For example:

Black is to white as hot is to _________________

(A) great

(B) neutral

(C) cold

(D) gray

This basic analogy is asking you first to recognize the relationship between the terms black and white and then to pick a term that creates the same relationship. Because black is the opposite of white, the correct answer is Choice (C).

Black is to white as hot is to cold because cold is the opposite of hot.

Why analogical thinking is valued

Your ability to solve analogies offers insight into how you think. Both graduate programs and employers are interested in accepting people who can think, analyze, and reason, and looking at MAT scores is one way they attempt to determine whether an applicant has those abilities.

Analogies help us learn by creating connections in our minds. If I tell a student to answer all the easy questions on a test before attempting any difficult ones, he'll almost certainly understand me. But if I make the analogy that answering the easy questions first is like first grabbing the easiest coins when you're running out of time in Super Mario Brothers, he'll have a mental image and create a stronger memory link to the concept.

He'll be able to link it to something he already knows, making it easier to remember and use in the future. In fact, a lot of the learning we do uses analogies, since we often fit new concepts into our existing knowledge by mentally comparing them to things we already know. Analogies aren't bad; they're actually pretty useful. Working on them might even make you smarter.

As with most skills, the more time you spend working on analogies, the better you get at them because your brain gets more used to identifying relationships. When you begin the analogy practice later in this chapter, stick with it. Practice a little every day - before you know it, you'll be able to zero in on most analogy relationships in no time.

Analogical thinking in an academic environment

Standardized tests have included analogies for almost 100 years. Studies have shown that skill with analogies is connected to intelligence, analytical ability, and higher thinking that extends beyond simple memorization. Prospective schools find these traits desirable in their incoming students.

Graduate programs require a standardized test score so that they have some basis for comparing your application to others. Many factors influence grades, so schools use tests like the MAT because they stick to a standard. The MAT you take is most likely the same MAT that someone else across the country took, or at least very similar.

So, for example, if two applicants have the same GPA but different MAT scores, an admissions committee can more easily decide which applicant to accept. Schools also tend to put more stock in concrete data, like a numerical MAT score, than they do subjective data, like a teacher's recommendation letter. After all, you can bribe a teacher to write you a good letter, but you can't bribe the MAT.

Schools like the MAT because it tests your ability to think in terms of analogies. Admission boards want to know that you can think and reason. If you perform well on the MAT, they know you can determine relationships in many different situations.

This skill is particularly valuable in fields like science that often require analogical thinking. For example, if adding acid B to chemical C produces an explosion, then adding acid B to chemical D, which is in the same chemical class as chemical C, will probably also produce an explosion. This inference uses an analogy to predict that a similar situation will produce a similar result. In this example, analogical thinking may save your life!

In a similar vein, schools want to see that you're well rounded. Many programs that accept MAT scores for admission are in education-related fields. If you're going to become an educator, it makes sense that you need a broad spectrum of knowledge, to explain concepts to your future students. A good MAT score most likely means that you have a basic level of knowledge about the humanities, sciences, and so on, making it more likely that you can explain a concept in more than one way. And using analogies is a great way to teach, especially if you can make an analogy using a concept the student is comfortable with.

Analogical thinking in the workplace

You may think that MAT scores are relevant only to getting into a graduate program, but not so. I don't mean to put additional pressure on you, but your scores can follow you far beyond enrolling in the school of your choice.

When you apply for a job, some companies may want to see your scores. Essentially, employers look at your MAT score the same way schools do. If a company asks for a MAT score, it likely wants a standard for comparing you to other applicants. Like schools, companies want to gauge your ability to think and reason, to see if you're well rounded and/or intellectually curious. People like to base their decisions on facts, and a MAT score is one more fact they can use to consider the strength of your application for the job.

Additionally, companies know that, with the world changing so quickly, they need to hire people who have the ability to adapt. Today's technology will probably be obsolete in ten years. To companies, getting a good score on the MAT may mean that you can think on your feet and apply your current knowledge to solve new problems as they arise.

For example, if you worked at a produce company and were able to recognize that cold-press juicers were selling well in southern California, you could recommend that the company increase its advertising in that area. You'd bring tangible value to the company with your ability to identify relationships.

Determining Your Analogy Aptitude

So how do you find out if you're good with analogies? In general, you're more likely to be good with analogies if one or more of the following applies to you:

You quickly make connections between concepts and determine whether they're related.

You're a good teacher, or you're good at explaining concepts in ways others can understand.

You like learning. You like Googling and researching on the Internet, just for fun.

You're good with words, you have a good vocabulary, and you enjoy reading.

You're good with puzzles and figuring things out.

You're a creative person and enjoy creative expression.

This list isn't comprehensive, but it may help predict whether you'll adapt well to analogical thinking if you're not already good at it. Of course, to really determine whether you're good at analogies, you have to work on a bunch of them and see how you do.

Using this book is a good first step. And after you take the first practice exam that you purchase from the Miller Analogies website, you'll have some hard data about your skill level.

Getting Familiar with MAT Analogy Relationship Categories

If you think about it, we're always formulating relationships between the words we use. If I say any two words to you, like red and car, you'll probably form a relationship between them - maybe by picturing a shiny red Corvette. MAT analogies are all about relationships, and familiarizing yourself with some of the general categories of relationships on the MAT can make it easier to identify them in questions.

The MAT officially lists four types of relationships: Semantic, Classification, Association, and Logical/Mathematical. The names for these types are not as simple and descriptive as they could be, so I've renamed and expanded the relationship types to make it easier for you to think about them. We can create relationships between words in so many ways that, instead of trying to describe every single possible relationship, I...