LEAD

Claire STEVENSON
Dr, Leiden University, Psychology Methods & Statistic, Netherlands

Children's figural analogy solving: A little help goes a long way

Analogical reasoning is central to intelligence and essential to learning. A long line of research shows that children are generally capable of solving figural analogies. However, working memory appears to be a bottleneck in children’s analogical reasoning – at least in their initial ability prior to training. The question remains whether working memory plays a role in children’s learning and change in figural analogy solving. The literature shows conflicting results: in some studies the conclusion is that working memory affects ability to profit from training and other studies show no relationship between improvement in figural analogy solving and working memory. This may be due to the type of training provided or perhaps maturational constraints play a role. In this talk I will look into whether working memory is a source of individual differences in 5-10 year olds’ learning and change during training in analogical reasoning using explanatory item response theory models. The effectiveness of different types of training and instructions in aiding children of different age-groups and levels of working memory efficiency improve in figural analogy solving will be addressed.