Relational reasoning in word and in figure.

Abstract

This study investigated the relational reasoning capabilities of older adolescents and young adults when the focal assessment was a verbal and more schooled measure than 1 that was figural and more novel in its configuration. To achieve this end, the verbal test of relational reasoning (vTORR) was constructed to parallel the test of relational reasoning (TORR), which has been shown to be a psychometrically sound measure of the ability to discern analogical, anomalous, antinomous, and antithetical patterns within figural problem sets. Two-hundred undergraduate students completed the vTORR, TORR, and a vocabulary cloze test. The psychometric properties of the vTORR were first examined to ensure that data were reliable and valid. Then, the convergence between the vTORR and TORR was tested, along with the degree to which performance on the vTORR could be explained by linguistic ability, as measured by the vocabulary cloze test. Outcomes of correlational and confirmatory factor analyses indicated that there was a significant moderate association between the ability to reason relationally in word (i.e., vTORR) and in figure (i.e., TORR) and that linguistic ability contributed only a limited amount to performance on the vTORR. Of 3 theoretical models tested, a 4-factor model was found to best fit the vTORR data, indicating that the 4 specific forms of relational reasoning reflected in this measure were directly related to overall performance.

Individual differences in college‐age learners: The importance of relational reasoning for learning and assessment in higher education

“…This effort to unearth reasoning patterns predicated on dissimilarities was informed by writings in intelligence, higher‐order thinking, and mathematics set theory (Cattell, ; Russell, ; Spearman, ). Ultimately, three distinct forms representing varied patterns of dissimilarities were identified as follows: anomaly, antinomy, and antithesis (Alexander, Dumas, et al ., ; Alexander, Singer, et al ., ). Sample items from the Test of Relational Reasoning (TORR; Alexander & the Disciplined Reading and Learning Research Laboratory [DRLRL], ) help to explain these forms (see Figure ).…”

“…Relational reasoning (RR) can be defined as individuals’ ability to notice and attend to critical similarities and differences in what, on the surface, appear to be unrelated information or data (Alexander, Singer, Jablansky, & Hattan, ; Alexander, Dumas, et al ., ). These perceived relations further coalesce into meaningful patterns that guide thinking and action.…”

“…Even more importantly for this Special Issue, the TORR has been found to predict older adolescents’ and adults’ performance on a variety of demanding cognitive tasks including writing an argumentative essay (Singh, Sun, & Zhao, ), developing creative solutions to engineering design problems (Dumas, Schmidt, & Alexander, ; Jablansky, Alexander, & Schmidt, ), and thinking critically about maternity patients’ care (Fountain, ). Although not the focus of this article, two additional measures of RR have been developed and validated: the Verbal Test of Relational Reasoning (vTORR, Alexander, Singer, et al ., ) for adolescents and adults; and the Test of Relational Reasoning‐Junior (TORRjr; Alexander & the DRLRL, ) for children and younger adolescents. (See sample items in the Appendix S1).…”

Case-based modeling for learning: socially constructed skill development

“…Next, participants practice, improve, and adjust a script for future and/or additional use. These actions require relational reasoning to be successful (Alexander et al, 2016). Such processes use reflection, evaluation, assessment, judgment, and selection to create valid, focused, and helpful action plans to achieve performance improvements, and they help learners to understand connections across different functions and practices (Peters et al, 2015).…”

Relational Reasoning

“…Toward that end, we have been laboring to devise psychometrically sound measures of relational reasoning that be used with elementary and middle school students (i.e., TORRjr; Jablansky, Alexander, & Singer, 2016). We have also developed and calibrated a figural measure of relational reasoning for older students and adults (TORR; Alexander, 2012; Alexander et al, 2015), as well as a verbal form for this same population (vTORR; Alexander, Singer, Jablansky, & Hattan, 2015).…”