From beyond to within their grasp: The rudiments of analogical problem solving in 10- and 13-month-olds.

Abstract

Four experiments were conducted to assess infants ability to solve isomorphic problems and to explore the nature of early representations. Ten- and 13-month-olds attempted to solve problems that required combining 2 subgoals to bring a toy (goal object) within reach. A problem-series paradigm was used in which 3 tasks differing in surface features but sharing common goal structures and similar solutions were presented. The results indicate that 13-month-olds transferred a modeled solution strategy across isomorphic problems, whereas 10-month-olds did so only after experiencing either multiple source problems or high perceptual similarity between problems. Comprehension of the relations between solution actions and outcome, and between tools and target object, appeared critical to transfer. The results suggest that 1-year-olds can construct relatively abstract and flexible mental representations and that analogical problem solving may be 1 of the major accomplishments during the 1st year of life.

Children’s morphological awareness and reading ability

“…In addition to the ability to manipulate the morphological structure of words, word analogy likely requires analogical reasoning. Although analogical reasoning adds cognitive complexity to this measure, pre-school children, and even infants are capable of analogical of reasoning (e.g., Chen, Sanchez, & Campbell, 1997;Goswami, 1995; see Deacon & Kirby, 2004, for more on this). The Word Analogy test, despite its analogical component, appears to be a suitable morphological awareness measure for young children.…”

The spatial foundations of the conceptual system

“…Analogical learning is in evidence even in infants, who before a year of age begin to show analogical transfer from one problem to another (Chen et al 1997), and it remains a major source of conceptual growth throughout life (Gentner 2003;Goswami 1992).…”

Spatial Mapping in Preschoolers: Close Comparisons Facilitate Far Mappings

“…problem (Brown & Kane, 1988;Brown, Kane, & Echols, 1986;Chen & Klahr, 1999;Chen et al, 1997;Uttal et al, 1995). We have referred to the process of forming encodings based on comparison as analogical encoding (Ferguson, 1994;Kurtz, Miao, & Gentner, in press;Loewenstein et al, 1999).…”

“…The idea is that early in learning a given domain, children (and adults) generally attend to objects and their properties as the basis for similarity judgments. As children gain knowledge of relational structure, they become able to perceive similarities on the basis of common relational structures (e.g., Chen et al, 1997;Gentner & Toupin, 1986).…”