# The Curious Case of Analogies: Investigating Analogical Reasoning in Large Language Models

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.20344 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2511.20344/

## Key facts

- Cited by 2 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Placed in Reasoning benchmarks and evaluation, one of 17 directions in LLM reasoning.
- Builds on 11 of its 50 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 25 Nov 2025.

## Placed in

- LLM reasoning / [Reasoning benchmarks and evaluation](https://mlsanity.com/lr/reasoning-benchmarks-and-evaluation/)

## Builds on (most cited first, 11 of 11)

- [Llama 2: Open Foundation and Fine-Tuned Chat Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.09288/) (2023)
- [Qwen2.5 Technical Report](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.15115/) (2024)
- [Gemma 2: Improving Open Language Models at a Practical Size](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.00118/) (2024)
- [Understanding intermediate layers using linear classifier probes](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1610.01644/) (2016)
- [Gemma: Open Models Based on Gemini Research and Technology](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.08295/) (2024)
- [Eliciting Latent Predictions from Transformers with the Tuned Lens](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.08112/) (2023)
- [Mechanistic Interpretability for AI Safety -- A Review](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.14082/) (2024)
- [MathPrompter: Mathematical Reasoning using Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.05398/) (2023)
- [ANALOGICAL -- A Novel Benchmark for Long Text Analogy Evaluation in Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.05050/) (2023)
- [Analogical Reasoning Inside Large Language Models: Concept Vectors and the Limits of Abstraction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.03666/) (2025)
- [KnowledgePrompts: Exploring the Abilities of Large Language Models to Solve Proportional Analogies via Knowledge-Enhanced Prompting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.00869/) (2024)

## Built on by (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [Enhancing Structural Mapping with LLM-derived Abstractions for Analogical Reasoning in Narratives](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.29997/) (2026)
- [Some hypotheses on how chatbots work in problem-solution-driven conversations: Large Language Models as confirmation of the Innovation Illusion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.07722/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Analogical reasoning is at the core of human cognition, serving as an important foundation for a variety of intellectual activities. While prior work has shown that LLMs can represent task patterns and surface-level concepts, it remains unclear whether these models can encode high-level relational concepts and apply them to novel situations through structured comparisons. In this work, we explore this fundamental aspect using proportional and story analogies, and identify three key findings. First, LLMs effectively encode the underlying relationships between analogous entities; both attributive and relational information propagate through mid-upper layers in correct cases, whereas reasoning failures reflect missing relational information within these layers. Second, unlike humans, LLMs often struggle not only when relational information is missing, but also when attempting to apply it to new entities. In such cases, strategically patching hidden representations at critical token positions can facilitate information transfer to a certain extent. Lastly, successful analogical reasoning in LLMs is marked by strong structural alignment between analogous situations, whereas failures often reflect degraded or misplaced alignment. Overall, our findings reveal that LLMs exhibit emerging but limited capabilities in encoding and applying high-level relational concepts, highlighting both parallels and gaps with human cognition.