Development of Analogical Problem-Solving Skill

Abstract

3 experiments were performed to assess children's ability to solve a problem by analogy to a superficially dissimilar situation. Preschoolers and fifth and sixth graders were asked to solve a problem that allowed multiple solutions. Some subjects were first read a story that included an analogous problem and its solution. When the mapping between the relations involved in the corresponding solutions was relatively simple, and the corresponding instruments were perceptually and functionally similar, even preschoolers were able to use the analogy to derive a solution to the transfer problem (Experiment 1). Furthermore, salient similarity of the instruments was neither sufficient (Experiment 2) nor necessary (Experiment 3) for success by preschool subjects. When the story analog mapped well onto the transfer problem, 4-year-olds were often able to generate a solution that required transformation of an object with little perceptual or semantic similarity to the instrument used in the base analog (Experiment 3). The older children used analogies in a manner qualitatively similar to that observed in comparable studies with adults (Experiment 1), whereas the younger children exhibited different limitations.

Visual representation in analogical problem solving

“…Therefore, Experiment 2 was carried out with the unmodified problem and with adult subjects to provide a more direct comparison with Gick and Holyoak (1983). It also investigated the conclusion of Holyoak et al (1984) that analogical reasoning is essentially the same process in adolescents and adults. The x-ray problem used in this experiment was that used by Gick and Holyoak (1983) and presented earlier in the introduction.…”

Surface and structural similarity in analogical transfer

“…This problem may be especially acute for inexperienced problem solvers. For example, in an experiment on analogical transfer performed with 6-year-olds, Holyoak, Junn, and Billman (1984) found that what appeared to be a minor surface dissimilarity between the source and target significantly decreased the percentage of children who were able to use the analogy even when told to use it. It may be that children who lack experience with a problem domain have greater difficulty than do adults in analyzing the causally relevant aspects of the source and target problems.…”

Matching Traffic Safety Strategies to Youth Characteristics: A Literature Review of Cognitive Development

“…There Traffic Safety Messages for Youth 32 is a broad literature investigating the development of reasoning by analogy. This work shows that performance on reasoning by analogy tasks improves with age (e.g., Bisanz, Bisanz, & Lefevre, 1984; Gallagher & Wright, 1977;Holyoak, Junn, & Billman, 1984;Piaget, Montangero, & Billeter, 1977;Sternberg & Rifkin, 1979).…”

“…There Traffic Safety Messages for Youth 32 is a broad literature investigating the development of reasoning by analogy. This work shows that performance on reasoning by analogy tasks improves with age (e.g., Bisanz, Bisanz, & Lefevre, 1984; Gallagher & Wright, 1977;Holyoak, Junn, & Billman, 1984;Piaget, Montangero, & Billeter, 1977;Sternberg & Rifkin, 1979).In one of the most comprehensive studies on the development of reasoning by analogy, Sternberg and Rifkin (1979) tested groups of subjects whose ages averaged 8, 10, 12, and 19 years. In order to prevent performance decrements that could be related to verbal ability, the researchers used a pictorial version of Aristotle's reasoning by analogy task.…”