Access to Structural Similarity in the Analogical Problem Solving of Children

Abstract

In this study of the access process in analogical problem solving, preschoolers, first graders and third graders repeatedly listened to a variety of similar types of source stories until they could recall them completely. They then listened to a target story, were asked to retrieve the source story, were directed to solve a problem in a target story and to verify their responses. We found the following developmental differences: (1) the child could not access structural similarity at all; or the child could not maintain it until he/she reached a solution to the problem; (2) the child did not access structural similarity at first, but he/she re-accessed it during later processes of problem solving; (3) the child accessed structural similarity from the first and was able to maintain it with sound analogy. We described hypothetical reasons for such differences in analogical problem solving and provided suggestions for further research.

Preschoolers’ Quarantining of Fantasy Stories

“…The combined regression analyses indicated that the processes underlying transfer were different for the children who were read the real story and the children who were read the fantasy story. The factors that predicted transfer for the children read the real story were similar to those documented by previous research (e.g., Brown et al, 1986;Crisafi & Brown, 1986;Daehler & Chen, 1993;Goswami, 2001;Holyoak et al, 1984;Kim & Choi, 2003;Richert et al, 2009;Richland, Morrison, & Holyoak, 2006;Singer-Freeman, 2005;Tunteler & Resing, 2002): age and memory for the solution-relevant parts of the source story. In contrast, children who were read the fantasy story were most likely to transfer solutions if they were read the story oneon-one with the experimenter, if they had low fantasy orientation, and if they had higher cognitive ability scores.…”

“…Given that the participants were primarily Hispanic and from low‐income preschools, a sample different from samples in previous research on analogical transfer, it is important to note that the analogical transfer rate for children in Study 1 (55.9% transferred at least one analogical solution) was consistent with transfer rates reported in previous research. Past research has suggested that preschool children transfer anywhere from 18% of the time (Kim & Choi, 2003) to 58% of the time (Holyoak et al., 1984). The lower rates of transfer in the classroom condition of Study 2 (27.5% of children transferred at least one of the analogical solutions) are not inconsistent with the lower end of previously reported transfer rates.…”

“…Although age, a simple story structure (e.g., a limited number of analogical relations; Goswami, 2001; Holyoak et al., 1984), and access to the relevant features of the original story (Brown et al., 1986; Kim & Choi, 2003) are important for children’s transfer, researchers have identified additional influences on children’s ability to use analogy. These influences include perceptual similarity between the original story and the context of the transfer situation (Crisafi & Brown, 1986; Daehler & Chen, 1993; Holyoak et al., 1984), familiarity with the characters in the source story (Goswami, 2001; Holyoak et al., 1984; Richert, Shawber, Hoffman, & Taylor, 2009), and the style of the analogical task, with younger children profiting from a story‐style format rather than a formal‐style task (e.g., A:B::C:D; Singer‐Freeman, 2005; Tunteler & Resing, 2002).…”

The role of fantasy–reality distinctions in preschoolers' learning from educational video

“…There are certain contextual factors that are related to high rates of transfer, such as short and simple narratives (Goswami, ; Holyoak et al, ; Singer‐Freeman, ; Tunteler & Resing, ), and familiarity of or relationships with characters in the initial context (Lauricella, Gola, & Calvert, ). Because analogical transfer involves (a) recall or memory of the initial problem, (b) recognition of the relations between the initial and new contexts, and (c) transfer of the information from the initial to the new contexts, there are individual child factors related to successful analogical transfer of information from media contexts to the world outside of the digital screen, including memory of the initial situations and recognizing analogical similarities between contexts (Brown, Kane, & Echols, ; Goswami, ; Holyoak et al, ; Kim & Choi, ; Schlesinger et al, ).…”

A computational tool for creative idea generation based on analogical reasoning and ontology

“…In other words, it transfers knowledge from a familiar situation to a less-familiar situation that requires explanation (Casakin and Goldschmidt, 1999). Analogical reasoning could also process from unfamiliar to familiar, for example, exploring a new (unfamiliar) problem through identifying or recognizing similarities from a known (familiar) problem (Kim and Choi, 2003).…”