This study was conducted to confirm the necessity of analogical thinking and to empirically verify the effectiveness of analogical reasoning through the visual representation by analyzing the factors of problem solving depending on analogical conditions. Four conditions (a visual representation mapping condition, a conceptual mapping condition, a retrieval hint condition and no hint condition) were set up for the above purpose and 80 twelfth-grade students from C high-School in Cheong-Ju, Chung-Buk participated in the present study as subjects. They solved the same mathematical problem about sequence of complex numbers in their differed process requirements for analogical transfer. The problem solving rates for each condition were analyzed by Chi-square analysis using SPSS 12.0 program. The results of this study indicate that retrieval of base knowledge is restricted when participants do not use analogy intentionally in problem solving and the mapping of the base and target concepts through the visual representation would be closely related to successful analogical transfer. As the results of this study offer, analogical thinking is necessary while solving mathematical problems and it supports empirically the conclusion that recognition of the relational similarity between base and target concepts by the aid of visual representation is closely associated with successful problem solving.