Constraints on Accessing Abstract Source Information Instantiation of Principles Facilitates Children's Analogical Transfer

• Published in: Journal of educational psychology Vol. 87; no. 3; pp. 445 - 454
• Main Authors: Chen, Zhe, Yanowitz, Karen L, Daehler, Marvin W
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Psychological Association 01-09-1995; American Psychological Association, etc
• Subjects: Abstraction; Access to Information; Analogy; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child development; Child psychology; Children; Cognition & reasoning; Cognitive Generalization; Constraints; Developmental psychology; Elementary Education; Examples; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Generative Processes; Human; Instantiation Hypothesis; Problem Solving; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Transfer of Training; Human; Context; School age; Information source; Problem solving; Transfer; Information access; Analogy; Cognition; Abstraction; Child
• ISSN: 0022-0663; 1939-2176
• DOI: 10.1037/0022-0663.87.3.445

An abstract principle provided as source information alone often
fails to enhance analogical transfer. Two experiments were conducted to
investigate the circumstances under which an abstract statement
promotes analogical problem solving in children. External instantiation
(providing concrete examples, with similar or dissimilar surface
features along with an abstract statement) and internal instantiation
(encouraging learners to generate concrete examples of the abstract
statement) were equally effective in facilitating transfer. Adding
explicit causal relations in the source statements did not
significantly enhance transfer. These results suggest that abstract
information by itself is less accessible because it lacks superficial
features similar to the target problem and lacks example-specific
contextual information. Educational implications of the effects of
external and internal instantiations are discussed.