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Shao W, Zhou H, Qi Y, Zhu Z, Zhang T, Chen Y, Chen Y, Yu X. Dissociated contributions of working memory and inhibitory control to children's and adults' analogical reasoning: Analogical strategies matter. J Exp Child Psychol 2024; 244:105950. [PMID: 38735221 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2024.105950] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2023] [Revised: 03/22/2024] [Accepted: 04/02/2024] [Indexed: 05/14/2024]
Abstract
This study investigated whether and how each component of working memory (WM) and inhibitory control (IC) is related to analogical reasoning. Specifically, the mediating roles of analogical strategies were examined and compared across children and adults. In total, 79 children (50 girls; M ± SD = 8.43 ± 0.59 years old) and 77 adults (35 female; 19.44 ± 0.82 years old) were administered tests of WM, IC, and analogical reasoning. In addition, participants' eye movement data during the analogical reasoning task were collected to classify the analogical strategies. The results showed that the semantic-constraint strategy completely mediated the relationship between WM (rather than IC) and analogical reasoning for children. However, for adults, the project-first strategy partially mediated the association between IC (rather than WM) and analogical reasoning. These findings reveal the dissociated roles of WM and IC in analogical reasoning through analogical strategies for children and adults and highlight the importance of analogical strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei Shao
- Department of Psychology, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Beijing Forestry University, Haidian District, Beijing 100083, People's Republic of China
| | - Haichun Zhou
- Department of Psychology, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Beijing Forestry University, Haidian District, Beijing 100083, People's Republic of China
| | - Yue Qi
- School of Developmental Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Haidian District, Beijing 100875, People's Republic of China
| | - Zejia Zhu
- The Thacher School, Ojai, CA 93023, USA
| | - Tianci Zhang
- Department of Psychology, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Beijing Forestry University, Haidian District, Beijing 100083, People's Republic of China
| | - Yiran Chen
- Department of Psychology, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Beijing Forestry University, Haidian District, Beijing 100083, People's Republic of China
| | - Yinghe Chen
- School of Developmental Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Haidian District, Beijing 100875, People's Republic of China
| | - Xiao Yu
- Department of Psychology, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Beijing Forestry University, Haidian District, Beijing 100083, People's Republic of China.
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2
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Benton DT, Kamper D, Beaton RM, Sobel DM. Don't throw the associative baby out with the Bayesian bathwater: Children are more associative when reasoning retrospectively under information processing demands. Dev Sci 2024; 27:e13464. [PMID: 38059682 DOI: 10.1111/desc.13464] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2023] [Revised: 11/13/2023] [Accepted: 11/27/2023] [Indexed: 12/08/2023]
Abstract
Causal reasoning is a fundamental cognitive ability that enables individuals to learn about the complex interactions in the world around them. However, the mechanisms that underpin causal reasoning are not well understood. For example, it remains unresolved whether children's causal inferences are best explained by Bayesian inference or associative learning. The two experiments and computational models reported here were designed to examine whether 5- and 6-year-olds will retrospectively reevaluate objects-that is, adjust their beliefs about the causal status of some objects presented at an earlier point in time based on the observed causal status of other objects presented at a later point in time-when asked to reason about 3 and 4 objects and under varying degrees of information processing demands. Additionally, the experiments and models were designed to determine whether children's retrospective reevaluations were best explained by associative learning, Bayesian inference, or some combination of both. The results indicated that participants retrospectively reevaluated causal inferences under minimal information-processing demands (Experiment 1) but failed to do so under greater information processing demands (Experiment 2) and that their performance was better captured by an associative learning mechanism, with less support for descriptions that rely on Bayesian inference. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Five- and 6-year-old children engage in retrospective reevaluation under minimal information-processing demands (Experiment 1). Five- and 6-year-old children do not engage in retrospective reevaluation under more extensive information-processing demands (Experiment 2). Across both experiments, children's retrospective reevaluations were better explained by a simple associative learning model, with only minimal support for a simple Bayesian model. These data contribute to our understanding of the cognitive mechanisms by which children make causal judgements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deon T Benton
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA
| | - David Kamper
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, USA
| | - Rebecca M Beaton
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA
| | - David M Sobel
- Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences, Brown University, Los Angeles, USA
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3
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Cui J, Lv L, Yang F, Wang L, Li J, Cui Z, Zhou X. The structure correspondence hypothesis predicts how word and sentence in language correlate with term and principle in mathematics. Cogn Process 2024; 25:305-319. [PMID: 38064118 DOI: 10.1007/s10339-023-01170-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2022] [Accepted: 11/06/2023] [Indexed: 05/22/2024]
Abstract
The association between language and mathematics is an important debated topic. Here, we proposed a structure correspondence hypothesis to explain under what conditions language and mathematics are closely related. According to the hypothesis, there would be an association when they have equivalent structure. One hundred and fifty high school students were recruited to finish mathematical and language tests at the element level (i.e., geometric term processing and word analogy) and at the low-dimensional combination level (i.e., geometric principle processing and sentence completion) as well as the tests to measure cognitive covariates (general intelligence and spatial processing). After controlling for age, gender and cognitive covariates, geometric term processing and word analogy were closely correlated, and geometric principle processing and sentence completion were significantly correlated. No other correlations were found. The results support the structure correspondence hypothesis and provide a new perspective of structure of language and verbalized mathematics for the relation between language and mathematics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiaxin Cui
- College of Education, Hebei Normal University, 20 Nanerhuandong Road, Shijiazhuang, 050024, China
| | - Liting Lv
- College of Education, Hebei Normal University, 20 Nanerhuandong Road, Shijiazhuang, 050024, China
| | - Fan Yang
- College of Education Science, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu, China
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, No.19, Xinjiekouwai St, Haidian District, Beijing, 100875, China
| | - Lelei Wang
- College of Education, Hebei Normal University, 20 Nanerhuandong Road, Shijiazhuang, 050024, China
| | - Jiarui Li
- College of Education, Hebei Normal University, 20 Nanerhuandong Road, Shijiazhuang, 050024, China
| | - Zhanling Cui
- College of Education, Hebei Normal University, 20 Nanerhuandong Road, Shijiazhuang, 050024, China.
| | - Xinlin Zhou
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, No.19, Xinjiekouwai St, Haidian District, Beijing, 100875, China.
- Advanced Innovation Center for Future Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
- Center for Brain and Mathematical Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
- Research Associaton for Brain and Mathematical Learning, Beijing, China.
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4
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Cheng C, Kibbe MM. Children's use of reasoning by exclusion to infer objects' identities in working memory. J Exp Child Psychol 2024; 237:105765. [PMID: 37690346 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2023.105765] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2022] [Revised: 07/13/2023] [Accepted: 08/09/2023] [Indexed: 09/12/2023]
Abstract
Reasoning by exclusion allows us to form more complete representations of our environments, "filling in" inaccessible information by ruling out known alternatives. In two experiments (Experiment 1: N = 34 4- to 6-year-olds; Experiment 2: N = 85 4- to 8-year-olds), we examined children's ability to use reasoning by exclusion to infer the identity of an unknown object and investigated the role of working memory in this ability. Children were asked to encode a set of objects that were then hidden, and after a brief retention interval children were asked to select the identity of the object hidden in one of the locations from two alternatives. On some trials, all the images were visible during encoding, so selecting the correct identity when probed required successful working memory storage and retrieval. On other trials, all but one of the images was visible during encoding, so selecting the correct identity when probed also required maintaining a representation of an unknown object in working memory and then using reasoning by exclusion to fill in the missing information retroactively to complete that representation by ruling out known alternatives. To investigate the working memory cost of exclusive reasoning, we manipulated the working memory demands of the task. Our results suggest that children can use reasoning by exclusion to retroactively assign an identity to an incomplete object representation at least by 4 years of age but that this ability incurs some cognitive cost, which eases with development. These results provide new insights into children's representational capacities and on the foundational building blocks of fully developed exclusive reasoning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chen Cheng
- Division of Social Science, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
| | - Melissa M Kibbe
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
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Danis E, Nader AM, Degré-Pelletier J, Soulières I. Semantic and Visuospatial Fluid Reasoning in School-Aged Autistic Children. J Autism Dev Disord 2023; 53:4719-4730. [PMID: 36136200 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-022-05746-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/04/2022] [Indexed: 10/14/2022]
Abstract
In light of the known visuoperceptual strengths and altered language skills in autism, we investigated the impact of problem content (semantic/visuospatial) combined with complexity and presence of lures on fluid reasoning in 43 autistic and 41 typical children (6-13 years old). Increased complexity and presence of lures diminished performance, but less so as the children's age increased. Typical children were slightly more accurate overall, whereas autistic children were faster at solving complex visuospatial problems. Thus, reasoning could rely more extensively on visuospatial strategies in autistic versus typical children. A combined speed-accuracy measure revealed similar performance in both groups, suggesting a similar pace in fluid reasoning development. Visual presentation of conceptual information seems to suit the reasoning processes of autistic children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eliane Danis
- Department of Psychology, University of Québec in Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
- CIUSSS NIM Research Center, Hôpital en Santé Mentale Rivière-des-Prairies, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Anne-Marie Nader
- Department of Psychology, University of Québec in Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
- CIUSSS NIM Research Center, Hôpital en Santé Mentale Rivière-des-Prairies, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Department of Occupational Therapy, University of Québec in Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, Canada
| | - Janie Degré-Pelletier
- Department of Psychology, University of Québec in Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
- CIUSSS NIM Research Center, Hôpital en Santé Mentale Rivière-des-Prairies, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Isabelle Soulières
- Department of Psychology, University of Québec in Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada.
- CIUSSS NIM Research Center, Hôpital en Santé Mentale Rivière-des-Prairies, Montreal, QC, Canada.
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6
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Cui J, Wang S, Lv L, Ran X, Cui Z, Zhou X. Different cognitive mechanisms used for solving open and closed math problems. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY 2023; 58:584-593. [PMID: 37533291 DOI: 10.1002/ijop.12934] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2022] [Accepted: 06/06/2023] [Indexed: 08/04/2023]
Abstract
Problem-solving skills are very important in our daily life. Almost all problem-solving studies have addressed the cognitive correlates of solving closed problems, but only limited studies have investigated the cognitive mechanisms of solving open problems. The current study aimed to systematically examine differences between the cognitive mechanisms used for solving open and closed problems. In total, the abilities of 142 high school students to solve open and closed problems were assessed, as were a series of general cognitive abilities as controlled variates. Analogical reasoning uniquely contributed to solving both open and closed math problems, after controlling for age, gender, and inductive reasoning. Reactive cognitive flexibility (measured using the Wisconsin card sorting test) and spatial working memory uniquely correlated only with solving open and closed math problems, respectively. These findings suggest that the cognitive processes used to solve open and closed math problems differ. Open and closed math problems appear to require more reactive cognitive flexibility for generation and more memory for retrieval, respectively.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiaxin Cui
- College of Education, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, China
| | - Shumin Wang
- College of Education, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, China
| | - Liting Lv
- College of Education, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, China
| | - Xiaomeng Ran
- College of Education, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, China
| | - Zhanling Cui
- College of Education, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, China
| | - Xinlin Zhou
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- Advanced Center for Future Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
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Richland LE, Zhao H. Measuring the building blocks of everyday cognition: executive functions and relational reasoning. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1219414. [PMID: 37829078 PMCID: PMC10565812 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1219414] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2023] [Accepted: 07/13/2023] [Indexed: 10/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Measurement of the building blocks of everyday thought must capture the range of different ways that humans may train, develop, and use their cognitive resources in real world tasks. Executive function as a construct has been enthusiastically adopted by cognitive and education sciences due to its theorized role as an underpinning of, and constraint on, humans' accomplishment of complex cognitively demanding tasks in the world, such as identifying problems, reasoning about and executing multi-step solutions while inhibiting prepotent responses or competing desires. As EF measures have been continually refined for increased precision; however, they have also become increasingly dissociated from those everyday accomplishments. We posit three implications of this insight: (1) extant measures of EFs that reduce context actually add an implicit requirement that children reason using abstract rules that are not accomplishing a function in the world, meaning that EF scores may in part reflect experience with formal schooling and Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic (WEIRD) socialization norms, limiting their ability to predict success in everyday life across contexts, (2) measurement of relational attention and relational reasoning have not received adequate consideration in this context but are highly aligned with the key aims for measuring EFs, and may be more aligned with humans' everyday cognitive practices, but (3) relational attention and reasoning should be considered alongside rather than as an additional EF as has been suggested, for measurement clarity.
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8
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Vinci-Booher S, Schlichting ML, Preston AR, Pestilli F. Development of human hippocampal subfield microstructure and relation to associative inference. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.04.07.536066. [PMID: 37066304 PMCID: PMC10104148 DOI: 10.1101/2023.04.07.536066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/18/2023]
Abstract
The hippocampus is a complex brain structure composed of subfields that each have distinct cellular organizations. While the volume of hippocampal subfields displays age-related changes that have been associated with inference and memory functions, the degree to which the cellular organization within each subfield is related to these functions throughout development is not well understood. We employed an explicit model testing approach to characterize the development of tissue microstructure and its relationship to performance on two inference tasks, one that required memory (memory-based inference) and one that required only perceptually available information (perception-based inference). We found that each subfield had a unique relationship with age in terms of its cellular organization. While the subiculum (SUB) displayed a linear relationship with age, the dentate gyrus (DG), cornu ammonis field 1 (CA1), and cornu ammonis subfields 2 and 3 (combined; CA2/3) displayed non-linear trajectories that interacted with sex in CA2/3. We found that the DG was related to memory-based inference performance and that the SUB was related to perception-based inference; neither relationship interacted with age. Results are consistent with the idea that cellular organization within hippocampal subfields might undergo distinct developmental trajectories that support inference and memory performance throughout development.
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Bobrowicz K, Thibaut JP. The Development of Flexible Problem Solving: An Integrative Approach. J Intell 2023; 11:119. [PMID: 37367522 DOI: 10.3390/jintelligence11060119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2023] [Revised: 06/03/2023] [Accepted: 06/06/2023] [Indexed: 06/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Flexible problem solving, the ability to deal with currently goal-irrelevant information that may have been goal-relevant in previous, similar situations, plays a prominent role in cognitive development and has been repeatedly investigated in developmental research. However, this research, spanning from infancy to the school years, lacks a unifying framework, obscuring the developmental timing of flexible problem solving. Therefore, in this review paper, previous findings are gathered, organized, and integrated under a common framework to unveil how and when flexible problem solving develops. It is showed that the development of flexible problem solving coincides with increases in executive functions, that is, inhibition, working memory and task switching. The analysis of previous findings shows that dealing with goal-irrelevant, non-salient information received far more attention than generalizing in the presence of goal-irrelevant, salient information. The developmental timing of the latter can only be inferred from few transfer studies, as well as executive functions, planning and theory of mind research, to highlight gaps in knowledge and sketch out future research directions. Understanding how transfer in the presence of seemingly relevant but truly irrelevant information develops has implications for well-balanced participation in information societies, early and lifespan education, and investigating the evolutionary trajectory of flexible problem solving.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katarzyna Bobrowicz
- Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences, University of Luxembourg, 4366 Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
| | - Jean-Pierre Thibaut
- LEAD-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique UMR-5022, University of Burgundy, 21000 Dijon, France
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Niebaum J, Munakata Y. The Development of Relational Reasoning: An Eyetracking Analysis of Strategy Use and Adaptation in Children and Adults Performing Matrix Completion. Open Mind (Camb) 2023; 7:197-220. [PMID: 37416068 PMCID: PMC10320822 DOI: 10.1162/opmi_a_00078] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2022] [Accepted: 04/24/2023] [Indexed: 07/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Relational reasoning is a key component of fluid intelligence and an important predictor of academic achievement. Relational reasoning is commonly assessed using matrix completion tasks, in which participants see an incomplete matrix of items that vary on different dimensions and select a response that best completes the matrix based on the relations among items. Performance on such assessments increases dramatically across childhood into adulthood. However, despite widespread use, little is known about the strategies associated with good or poor matrix completion performance in childhood. This study examined the strategies children and adults use to solve matrix completion problems, how those strategies change with age, and whether children and adults adapt strategies to difficulty. We used eyetracking to infer matrix completion strategy use in 6- and 9-year-old children and adults. Across ages, scanning across matrix rows and columns predicted good overall performance, and quicker and higher rates of consulting potential answers predicted poor performance, indicating that optimal matrix completion strategies are similar across development. Indices of good strategy use increased across childhood. As problems increased in difficulty, children and adults increased their scanning of matrix rows and columns, and adults and 9-year-olds also shifted strategies to rely more on consulting potential answers. Adapting strategies to matrix difficulty, particularly increased scanning of rows and columns, was associated with good overall performance in both children and adults. These findings underscore the importance of both spontaneous and adaptive strategy use in individual differences in relational reasoning and its development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jesse Niebaum
- Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA
| | - Yuko Munakata
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA
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11
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Giancola M, Pino MC, Riccio V, Piccardi L, D’Amico S. Preschoolers’ Perceptual Analogical Reasoning and Map Reading: A Preliminary Study on the Mediating Effect of Spatial Language. CHILDREN 2023; 10:children10040630. [PMID: 37189879 DOI: 10.3390/children10040630] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2023] [Revised: 03/21/2023] [Accepted: 03/27/2023] [Indexed: 03/30/2023]
Abstract
Reading and interpreting a map represents an essential part of daily life, enabling appropriate orientation and navigation through space. Based on the idea that perceptual analogical reasoning is critical in aligning the spatial structure of the map with the spatial structure of the space and given the critical role of language, especially spatial language, in encoding and establishing spatial relations among elements in the environment, the present study investigated the joint contribution of perceptual analogical reasoning and spatial language in map reading. The study was conducted with 56 typically developing 4- to 6-year-old children, and the results indicated that perceptual abstract reasoning affected map reading through the mediating effect of spatial language. These findings yielded theoretical and practical implications regarding the role of perceptual abstract reasoning and spatial language in shaping map-reading abilities in the early stages of life, highlighting that domain-specific language competencies are necessary to improve the encoding of spatial relations, to establish object correspondences, and to ensure successful navigation. Limitations and future research directions were discussed.
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Kucwaj H, Ociepka M, Gajewski Z, Chuderski A. Captured by associations: Semantic distractibility during analogical reasoning in schizophrenia. Schizophr Res Cogn 2023; 31:100274. [DOI: 10.1016/j.scog.2022.100274] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2022] [Revised: 11/09/2022] [Accepted: 11/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
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13
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Felsche E, Stevens P, Völter CJ, Buchsbaum D, Seed AM. Evidence for abstract representations in children but not capuchin monkeys. Cogn Psychol 2023; 140:101530. [PMID: 36495840 DOI: 10.1016/j.cogpsych.2022.101530] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2021] [Revised: 10/02/2022] [Accepted: 11/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
The use of abstract higher-level knowledge (also called overhypotheses) allows humans to learn quickly from sparse data and make predictions in new situations. Previous research has suggested that humans may be the only species capable of abstract knowledge formation, but this remains controversial. There is also mixed evidence for when this ability emerges over human development. Kemp et al. (2007) proposed a computational model of how overhypotheses could be learned from sparse examples. We provide the first direct test of this model: an ecologically valid paradigm for testing two species, capuchin monkeys (Sapajus spp.) and 4- to 5-year-old human children. We presented participants with sampled evidence from different containers which suggested that all containers held items of uniform type (type condition) or of uniform size (size condition). Subsequently, we presented two new test containers and an example item from each: a small, high-valued item and a large but low-valued item. Participants could then choose from which test container they would like to receive the next sample - the optimal choice was the container that yielded a large item in the size condition or a high-valued item in the type condition. We compared performance to a priori predictions made by models with and without the capacity to learn overhypotheses. Children's choices were consistent with the model predictions and thus suggest an ability for abstract knowledge formation in the preschool years, whereas monkeys performed at chance level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisa Felsche
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, Scotland; Department of Comparative Cultural Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Germany.
| | | | - Christoph J Völter
- Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Medical University of Vienna and University of Vienna, Austria
| | - Daphna Buchsbaum
- Department of Cognitive, Linguistic and Psychological Sciences, Brown University, USA
| | - Amanda M Seed
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, Scotland
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Lin Y, Li Q, Zhang M, Su Y, Wang X, Li H, Chen A. Evidence in Support of Analogical Reasoning Improvements with Executive Attention Intervention in Healthy Young Adults. Neurosci Bull 2022; 38:1476-1490. [PMID: 35986152 PMCID: PMC9723033 DOI: 10.1007/s12264-022-00941-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2022] [Accepted: 06/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Analogical reasoning improvement is important in educational outcome improvement. Inspired by recent ideas and evidence, we applied anti-saccade task training as an executive attention intervention and tested whether it could improve analogical reasoning performance. A serial-task paradigm was applied where participants performed an anti-saccade followed by an analogical reasoning task including a perception condition. The experimental group finished the anti-saccade task in which the ratio of anti-saccade trials to pro-saccade trials was 5:1 while the counterpart was 1:1 in the active control group. Also, a blank control group was established where participants merely finished the analogical reasoning task. Event-related electroencephalographic (EEG) data were recorded when participants were performing the executive attention and analogical reasoning tasks. In addition, their resting state EEG was collected before and after the executive attention intervention. Behaviorally, the experimental group reacted significantly faster than the other two groups in analogical reasoning but not in perception. At the neural level, in the experimental group alone, the anti-saccade trials elicited a smaller N2 than pro-saccade trials and the resting alpha power was improved after executive attention intervention. No significant difference in P2 was found between the two groups in analogical reasoning or perception but the experimental group showed a larger late positive component than the active control group in analogical reasoning. We also found that the late positive component mediated the relationship between the N2 of anti-saccade trials and analogical reasoning reaction times in the experimental group. We further discussed the role of executive attention in the analogical reasoning process, which may pave the way for the future reliable improvement of fluid intelligence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yixuan Lin
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality of Ministry of Education, Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China
| | - Qing Li
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality of Ministry of Education, Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China
| | - Mengke Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality of Ministry of Education, Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China
| | - Yujie Su
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality of Ministry of Education, Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China
| | - Xiangpeng Wang
- Collaborative Innovation Center for Language Ability, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Language and Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Linguistic Sciences and Arts, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou, 221116, China
| | - Hong Li
- Key Laboratory of Brain Cognition and Educational Science, Ministry of Education, School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
| | - Antao Chen
- School of Psychology, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, 200438, China.
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15
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Thibaut J, Glady Y, French RM. Understanding the What and When of Analogical Reasoning Across Analogy Formats: An Eye-Tracking and Machine Learning Approach. Cogn Sci 2022; 46:e13208. [PMID: 36399055 PMCID: PMC9786648 DOI: 10.1111/cogs.13208] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2020] [Revised: 08/23/2022] [Accepted: 09/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Starting with the hypothesis that analogical reasoning consists of a search of semantic space, we used eye-tracking to study the time course of information integration in adults in various formats of analogies. The two main questions we asked were whether adults would follow the same search strategies for different types of analogical problems and levels of complexity and how they would adapt their search to the difficulty of the task. We compared these results to predictions from the literature. Machine learning techniques, in particular support vector machines (SVMs), processed the data to find out which sets of transitions best predicted the output of a trial (error or correct) or the type of analogy (simple or complex). Results revealed common search patterns, but with local adaptations to the specifics of each type of problem, both in terms of looking-time durations and the number and types of saccades. In general, participants organized their search around source-domain relations that they generalized to the target domain. However, somewhat surprisingly, over the course of the entire trial, their search included, not only semantically related distractors, but also unrelated distractors, depending on the difficulty of the trial. An SVM analysis revealed which types of transitions are able to discriminate between analogy tasks. We discuss these results in light of existing models of analogical reasoning.
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Various sources of distraction during analogical reasoning. Mem Cognit 2022; 50:1614-1628. [PMID: 35211867 PMCID: PMC9508029 DOI: 10.3758/s13421-022-01285-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Reasoning by analogy requires mapping relational correspondence between two situations to transfer information from the more familiar (source) to the less familiar situation (target). However, the presence of distractors may lead to invalid conclusions based on semantic or perceptual similarities instead of on relational correspondence. To understand the role of distraction in analogy making, we examined semantically rich four-term analogies (A:B::C:?) and scene analogies, as well as semantically lean geometric analogies and the matrix task tapping general reasoning. We examined (a) what types of lures were most distracting, (b) how the two semantically rich analogy tasks were related, and (c) how much variance in the scores could be attributed to general reasoning ability. We observed that (a) in four-term analogies the distractors semantically related to C impacted performance most strongly, as compared to the perceptual, categorical, and relational distractors, but the two latter distractor types also mattered; (b) distraction sources in four-term and scene analogies were virtually unrelated; and (c) general reasoning explained the largest part of variance in resistance to distraction. The results suggest that various sources of distraction operate at different stages of analogical reasoning and differently affect specific analogy paradigms.
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Cronin-Golomb LM, Bauer PJ. Support for learning under naturalistic conditions. Cogn Res Princ Implic 2022; 7:86. [PMID: 36153374 PMCID: PMC9509507 DOI: 10.1186/s41235-022-00435-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2022] [Accepted: 08/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
AbstractEducational opportunities occur through naturalistic everyday life experiences (e.g., reading a newspaper, listening to a podcast, or visiting a museum). Research primarily examines learning under controlled conditions, such as in a classroom or laboratory. There is relatively little known about the extent to which adults extract semantic content, beyond factual recall, from naturalistic educational experiences. In the present work, we focused on virtual museum exhibits. The materials were sourced directly from an art history museum. The naturalistic nature of this work stems from the type of content used though an important component of naturalistic learning—motivational processes—was not measured. In each of three experiments, we assessed adult learners’ performance on tests of factual recall, inferential reasoning, and self-derivation through memory integration from naturalistic virtual museum exhibits. In anticipation of the potential challenge associated with learning outcomes under naturalistic conditions, we administered a yoked protocol under which participants had opportunities to engage in retrieval practice (Experiment 2a) or restudy (Experiment 2b) as explicit mechanisms of support for the three tests of learning. In all experiments, participants performed successfully on all three tests of learning; factual recall was the most accessible of the three learning outcomes. There was no difference in performance at the group level across experiments, but there was at the individual level, such that idea units generated during retrieval practice predicted learning outcomes, whereas restudy of those exact idea units did not. The current work provides novel insight into mechanisms underlying adult learning from naturalistic educational opportunities.
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Dugan JA, Bauer PJ. Putting the pieces together: Cognitive correlates of self-derivation of new knowledge in elementary school classrooms. J Exp Child Psychol 2022; 221:105441. [PMID: 35462104 PMCID: PMC9187618 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2022.105441] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2021] [Revised: 03/18/2022] [Accepted: 03/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
A central goal of development and formal education is to build a knowledge base. Accumulating knowledge relies, in part, on self-derivation of new semantic knowledge via integration of separate yet related learning episodes. Previous tests of self-derivation evidence both age-related and significant individual variability in self-derivation performance in the laboratory and the classroom due in part to individual differences in verbal comprehension (children and adults) and working memory (adults only). In the only extant investigation of cognitive correlates of children's successful self-derivation in the classroom, 3rd graders' verbal comprehension predicted self-derivation, whereas working memory did not. In the current research, we expanded the battery of cognitive correlates investigated, the age range of participants (8-11 years), and the sample size (N = 330) to examine candidate sources of variability in self-derivation. More specifically, in a diverse sample, we measured children's auditory and spatial working memory, inhibitory control, metacognitive awareness, verbal comprehension, and metacognitive judgments at test for self-derivation. Metacognition was of particular interest in the current research because little is currently known about how children's understanding of their cognition, at the trait or item-specific level, may affect their derivation of new knowledge. Only verbal comprehension and metacognitive knowledge predicted children's self-derivation performance; children's metacognitive judgments at the time of testing for self-derivation were not related to their performance. These findings suggest that having both semantic knowledge and knowledge of one's self as a learner, as well as knowing how to use one's knowledge, support further knowledge base development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica A Dugan
- Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
| | - Patricia J Bauer
- Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
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Starr A, Leib ER, Younger JW, Uncapher MR, Bunge SA. Relational thinking: An overlooked component of executive functioning. Dev Sci 2022; 26:e13320. [PMID: 36030539 DOI: 10.1111/desc.13320] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2021] [Revised: 06/14/2022] [Accepted: 07/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Relational thinking, the ability to represent abstract, generalizable relations, is a core component of reasoning and human cognition. Relational thinking contributes to fluid reasoning and academic achievement, particularly in the domain of math. However, due to the complex nature of many fluid reasoning tasks, it has been difficult to determine the degree to which relational thinking has a separable role from the cognitive processes collectively known as executive functions (EFs). Here, we used a simplified reasoning task to better understand how relational thinking contributes to math achievement in a large, diverse sample of elementary and middle school students (N = 942). Students also performed a set of ten adaptive EF assessments, as well as tests of math fluency and fraction magnitude comparison. We found that relational thinking was significantly correlated with each of the three EF composite scores previously derived from this dataset, albeit no more strongly than they were with each other. Further, relational thinking predicted unique variance in students' math fluency and fraction magnitude comparison scores over and above the three EF composites. Thus, we propose that relational thinking be considered an EF in its own right as one of the core, mid-level cognitive abilities that supports cognition and goal-directed behavior. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Relational thinking, the process of identifying and integrating relations, develops over childhood and is central to reasoning. We collected data from nearly 1000 elementary and middle schoolers on a test of relational thinking, ten standard executive function tasks, and two math tests. Relational thinking predicts unique variance in math achievement not accounted for by canonical EFs throughout middle childhood. We propose that relational thinking should be conceptualized as a core executive function that supports cognitive development and learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ariel Starr
- Department of Psychology University of Washington Seattle WA USA
| | - Elena R. Leib
- Department of Psychology University of California Berkeley CA USA
| | - Jessica W. Younger
- Neuroscape, Department of Neurology, Weill Institute for Neurosciences University of California San Francisco San Francisco CA USA
| | - Melina R. Uncapher
- Neuroscape, Department of Neurology, Weill Institute for Neurosciences University of California San Francisco San Francisco CA USA
| | - Silvia A. Bunge
- Department of Psychology University of California Berkeley CA USA
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute University of California Berkeley CA USA
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O'Brien S, Mitchell DJ, Duncan J, Holmes J. Cognitive segmentation and fluid reasoning in childhood. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2022; 76:1431-1444. [PMID: 35848224 DOI: 10.1177/17470218221116054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The ability to solve novel complex problems predicts success in a wide range of areas. Recent research suggests that the ability to cognitively segment complex problems into smaller parts constrains nonverbal reasoning in adults. This study aimed to test whether cognitively segmenting problems improves nonverbal reasoning performance for children as it does for adults. A total of 115 children aged 6-10 years completed two versions of a modified traditional matrix reasoning task in which demands on working memory, integration, and processing speed were minimised, such that the only significant requirement was to break each problem into its constituent parts. In one version of the task, participants were presented with a traditional 2×2 Matrix and asked to draw the missing matrix item into a response box below. In a second version, the problem was broken down into its component features across three separate cells, reducing the need for participants to segment the problem. As with adults, performance was better in the condition in which the problems were separated into component parts. Children with lower fluid intelligence did not benefit more in the separated condition than children with higher fluid intelligence, and there was no evidence that segmenting problems was more beneficial for younger than older children. This study demonstrates that cognitive segmentation is a critical component of complex problem-solving for children, as it is for adults. By forcing children to focus their attention on separate parts of a complex visual problem, their performance can be dramatically improved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sinéad O'Brien
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.,College of Staten Island, The City University of New York, New York, NY, USA
| | - Daniel J Mitchell
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - John Duncan
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.,Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Joni Holmes
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.,School of Psychology, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
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21
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Zheng Y, Matlen B, Gentner D. Spatial Alignment Facilitates Visual Comparison in Children. Cogn Sci 2022; 46:e13182. [PMID: 35972902 PMCID: PMC9540866 DOI: 10.1111/cogs.13182] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2021] [Revised: 06/03/2022] [Accepted: 06/16/2022] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Visual comparison is a key process in everyday learning and reasoning. Recent research has discovered the spatial alignment principle, based on the broader framework of structure-mapping theory in comparison. According to the spatial alignment principle, visual comparison is more efficient when the figures being compared are arranged in direct placement-that is, juxtaposed with parallel structural axes. In this placement, (1) the intended relational correspondences are readily apparent, and (2) the influence of potential competing correspondences is minimized. There is evidence for the spatial alignment principle in adults' visual comparison (Matlen et al., 2020). Here, we test whether it holds for children. Six- and eight-year-old children performed a same-different task over visual pairs. The results indicated that direct placement led to faster and more accurate comparison, both for concrete same-different matches (matches of both objects and relations) and for purely relational matches-evidence that the same structural alignment process holds for visual comparison in 6- and 8-year-olds as in adults. These findings have implications for learning and education.
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Guarino KF, Wakefield EM, Morrison RG, Richland LE. Why do children struggle on analogical reasoning tasks? Considering the role of problem format by measuring visual attention. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2022; 224:103505. [PMID: 35091207 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2022.103505] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2020] [Revised: 09/26/2021] [Accepted: 01/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Given the importance of analogical reasoning to bootstrapping children's understanding of the world, why is this ability so challenging for children? Two common sources of error have been implicated: 1) children's inability to prioritize relational information during initial problem solving; 2) children's inability to disengage from salient distractors. Here, we use eye tracking to examine children and adults' looking patterns when solving scene analogies, finding that children and adults attended differently to distractors, and that this attention predicted performance. These results provide the most direct evidence to date that feature based distraction is an important way children and adults differ during early analogical reasoning. In contrast to recent work using propositional analogies, we find no differences in children and adults' prioritization of relational information during problem solving, and while there are some differences in general attentional strategies across age groups, neither prioritization of relational information nor attentional strategy predict successful problem solving. Together, our results suggest that analogy problem format should be taken into account when considering developmental factors in children's analogical reasoning.
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Bobrowicz K, Sahlström J, Thorstensson K, Nagy B, Psouni E. Generalizing solutions across functionally similar problems correlates with world knowledge and working memory in 2.5- to 4.5-year-olds. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cogdev.2022.101181] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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Current and Potential Cognitive Development in Healthy Children: A New Approach to Raven Coloured Progressive Matrices. CHILDREN 2022; 9:children9040446. [PMID: 35455490 PMCID: PMC9030293 DOI: 10.3390/children9040446] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2022] [Revised: 03/17/2022] [Accepted: 03/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
In clinical practice and research, Raven’s Coloured Progressive Matrices (RCPMs) continue to be used according to a single procedure that aims to evaluate a single overall score of the current general intelligence level. This study aimed to examine potential cognitive development in a sample of 450 typically developing children, aged from 6 to 10 years, by administering RCPMs according to the standard procedure followed immediately by a standardized interview on incorrect items. In addition, the study aimed to analyze how performance differed across age groups. The results analysis was examined on the basis of three different factors in which the items were grouped in previous factorial studies. The results found that performance improved markedly and significantly after the interview; however, the improvement was not homogeneous in the three factors across age groups or within each age group. The age groups showed a different development potential in relation to the nature of the task: the younger ones showed a greater increase on items requiring figure completion, and the older ones showed a greater increase on analogical reasoning items. Finally, the children who showed the greatest improvement were those with the best performance in standard RCPM administration. The procedure described in the present research could represent a useful tool in clinical practice and in the research for a broader cognitive assessment focused on potential cognitive development, as well as on real cognitive development, and to favor the planning of more adequate rehabilitation and educational treatments.
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25
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Parsons JD, Davies J. The Neural Correlates of Analogy Component Processes. Cogn Sci 2022; 46:e13116. [PMID: 35297092 DOI: 10.1111/cogs.13116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2019] [Revised: 10/31/2021] [Accepted: 01/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Analogical reasoning is a core facet of higher cognition in humans. Creating analogies as we navigate the environment helps us learn. Analogies involve reframing novel encounters using knowledge of familiar, relationally similar contexts stored in memory. When an analogy links a novel encounter with a familiar context, it can aid in problem solving. Reasoning by analogy is a complex process that is mediated by multiple brain regions and mechanisms. Several advanced computational architectures have been developed to simulate how these brain processes give rise to analogical reasoning, like the "learning with inferences and schema abstraction" architecture and the Companion architecture. To obtain this power to simulate human reasoning, theses architectures assume that various computational "subprocesses" comprise analogical reasoning, such as analogical access, mapping, inference, and schema induction, consistent with the structure-mapping framework proposed decades ago. However, little is known about how these subprocesses relate to actual brain processes. While some work in neuroscience has linked analogical reasoning to regions of brain prefrontal cortex, more research is needed to investigate the wide array of specific neural hypotheses generated by the computational architectures. In the current article, we review the association between historically important computational architectures of analogy and empirical studies in neuroscience. In particular, we focus on evidence for a frontoparietal brain network underlying analogical reasoning and the degree to which brain mechanisms mirror the computational subprocesses. We also offer a general vantage on the current- and future-states of neuroscience research in this domain and provide some recommendations for future neuroimaging studies.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jim Davies
- Department of Cognitive Science, Carleton University
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26
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Miller-Goldwater HE, Simmering VR. Examining the role of external language support and children's own language use in spatial development. J Exp Child Psychol 2022; 215:105317. [PMID: 34920377 PMCID: PMC8748416 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2021.105317] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2021] [Revised: 10/14/2021] [Accepted: 10/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
This research investigated whether an experimental manipulation providing children with external language support reflects developmental processes whereby children come to use language within spatial tasks. A total of 121 3- to 6-year-old children participated in language production and spatial recall tasks. The Production task measured children's task-relevant descriptions of spatial relations on the testing array. The Recall task assessed children's delayed search for hidden object locations on the testing array relative to one or more spatial reference frames (egocentric, room-centered, and intrinsic). During the Recall task, the experimenter provided children with either descriptive or nondescriptive verbal cues. Results showed that children's task-relevant language production improved with age and the effects of language support on spatial performance decreased with age. However, children's production of task-relevant language did not account for effects of language support. Instead, children benefited from language support irrespective of their task-relevant language production. These results suggest that verbal encoding is not a spontaneous process that young children use in support of their spatial performance. In addition, experimental manipulations of language support are not fully reflective of the ways in which children come to use language within spatial tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Vanessa R. Simmering
- University of Wisconsin-Madison, McPherson Eye Research Institute, and Waisman Center,Doctrina Consulting, LLC
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27
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Differential effects of semantic distance, distractor salience, and relations in verbal analogy. Psychon Bull Rev 2022; 29:1480-1491. [PMID: 35132581 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-022-02062-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Prior studies of A:B::C:D verbal analogies have identified several factors that affect performance, including the semantic similarity between source and target domains (semantic distance), the semantic association between the C-term and incorrect answers (distracter salience), and the type of relations between word pairs. However, it is unclear how these stimulus properties affect performance when utilized together. To test their interactive effects, we created a verbal analogy stimulus set that factorially crossed these factors and presented participants with an analogical stem (A:B::C:?) with two response choices: an analogically correct (D) and incorrect distracter (D') term. The semantic distance between source and target word pairs was manipulated creating near (BOWL:DISH::SPOON:SILVERWARE) and far (WRENCH:TOOL::SAD:MOOD) analogies. The salience of an incorrect distracter (D') was manipulated using the sematic distance with the C-term creating low (DRAWER) and high (FORK) salience distracters. Causal, compositional, and categorical relations were presented across these conditions. Accuracies were higher for semantically near than far analogies and when distracter salience was low than high. Categorical relations yielded better performance than the causal and compositional relations. Moreover, a three-way interaction demonstrated that the effects of semantic distance and distracter salience had a greater impact on performance for compositional and causal relations than for the categorical ones. We theorize that causal and compositional analogies, given their less semantically constrained responses, require more inhibitory control than more constraining relations (e.g., categorical).
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28
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Testing and Training Analogical Relational Responding in Children With and Without Autism. PSYCHOLOGICAL RECORD 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s40732-021-00493-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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29
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Kroupin IG, Carey SE. You cannot find what you are not looking for: Population differences in relational reasoning are sometimes differences in inductive biases alone. Cognition 2022; 222:105007. [PMID: 34990990 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2021.105007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2020] [Revised: 12/14/2021] [Accepted: 12/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Relational reasoning is a cornerstone of human cognition. Extensive work, drawing on the Relational Match to Sample paradigm (RMTS), has established that humans, at least above the age of five, are much more proficient relational reasoners than younger children or non-human animals. While sometimes differences between populations derive from differences in capacity (the capacity to create representations in a certain format or of a certain complexity, information processing capacity), other times such differences derive from different learning histories alone. Here we distinguish between two types of learning history explanations on the example of four-year-olds' failure on Premack's (1983) RMTS task: (1) that children four-year-olds have not yet created representations of the relations same and different with the properties need to support success on RMTS and (2) that four-year-olds have different inductive biases than do adults. Experiment 1 established that four-year-olds are at chance on the RMTS task we deploy as a transfer task in Experiment 2. Experiments 2A-C each provide children with a mere 8 trials of training on of one three MTS tasks (Number, Size and Identity MTS, respectively), none of which involves making matches of same to same or different to different. The very brief training (eight trials) on two of these tasks (Number MTS, Size MTS) leads to spontaneous success on RMTS in four-year-olds. Identity MTS has no effect on subsequent performance on RMTS. Given the brevity and non-relational nature of the training the successes after Number and Size MTS training must have resulted from changing inductive biases alone. Furthermore, the same two training tasks increased relational responding by adults on a related task (Kroupin & Carey, in press), whereas Identity MTS training did not, suggesting that the mechanisms through which the training changed inductive biases are at least partially continuous between ages four and adulthood.
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30
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Snape S, Krott A. The challenge of relational referents in early word extensions: Evidence from noun-noun compounds. JOURNAL OF CHILD LANGUAGE 2022; 49:131-163. [PMID: 33586644 DOI: 10.1017/s0305000920000793] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Young children struggle more with mapping novel words onto relational referents (e.g., verbs) compared to non-relational referents (e.g., nouns). We present further evidence for this notion by investigating children's extensions of noun-noun compounds, which map onto combinations of non-relational referents, i.e., objects (e.g., baby and bottle for baby bottle), and relations (e.g., a bottle FOR babies). We tested two- to five-year-olds' and adults' generalisations of novel compounds composed of novel (e.g., kig donka) or familiar (e.g., star hat) nouns that were combined by one of two relations (e.g., donka that has a kig attached (=attachment relation) versus donka that stores a kig (=function relation)). Participants chose between a relational (shared relation) and a non-relational (same colour) match. Results showed a developmental shift from encoding non-relational aspects (colour) towards relations of compound referents, supporting the challenge of relational word referents. Also, attachment relations were more frequently encoded than function relations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon Snape
- School of Psychology, University of Chester, UK
| | - Andrea Krott
- School of Psychology, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, UK
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31
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Bialystok E. Bilingualism as a Slice of Swiss Cheese. Front Psychol 2021; 12:769323. [PMID: 34819899 PMCID: PMC8606518 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.769323] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2021] [Accepted: 10/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Ellen Bialystok
- Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada
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32
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Cheung SK, Chan WWL. The roles of different executive functioning skills in young children's mental computation and applied mathematical problem-solving. BRITISH JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY 2021; 40:151-169. [PMID: 34580894 DOI: 10.1111/bjdp.12396] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2021] [Accepted: 09/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
This study investigated the relationships of four executive functioning skills (including verbal working memory, spatial working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility) with young children's mental computation and applied mathematical problem-solving. Two hundred and twenty-five Chinese kindergarteners were tested with a battery of general cognitive, executive functioning and mathematics skills. Results showed that when children's age, gender, non-verbal intelligence, and listening comprehension skills were controlled, verbal working memory and cognitive flexibility were significant correlates of mental computation, whereas verbal working memory, spatial working memory, and cognitive flexibility were significant correlates of applied mathematical problem-solving. Inhibitory control was not significantly associated with the two domains of mathematics under investigation. The findings highlight the differential roles of different executive functioning skills in early mathematical skills and offer practical implication for helping young children in learning complex mathematical skills.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sum Kwing Cheung
- Department of Early Childhood Education, The Education University of Hong Kong, China
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33
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Goldwater MB, Gentner D, LaDue ND, Libarkin JC. Analogy Generation in Science Experts and Novices. Cogn Sci 2021; 45:e13036. [PMID: 34490913 DOI: 10.1111/cogs.13036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/25/2019] [Revised: 07/16/2021] [Accepted: 07/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
There is a critical inconsistency in the literature on analogical retrieval. On the one hand, a vast set of laboratory studies has found that people often fail to retrieve past experiences that share deep relational commonalities, even when they would be useful for reasoning about a current problem. On the other hand, historical studies and naturalistic research show clear evidence of remindings based on deep relational commonalities. Here, we examine a possible explanation for this inconsistency-namely, that remindings based on relational principles increase as a function of expertise. To test this claim, we devised a simple analogy-generation task that can be administered across a wide range of expertise. We presented common events as the bases from which to generate analogies. Although the events themselves were unrelated to geoscience, we found that when the event was explainable in terms of a causal principle that is prominent in geoscience, expert geoscientists were likely to spontaneously produce analogies from geoscience that relied on the same principle. Further, for these examples, prompts to produce causal analogies increased their frequency among nonscientists and scientists from another domain, but not among expert geoscientists (whose spontaneous causal retrieval levels were already high). In contrast, when the example was best explained by a principle outside of geoscience, all groups required prompting to produce substantial numbers of analogies based on causal principles. Overall, this pattern suggests that the spontaneous use of causal principles is characteristic of experts. We suggest that expert scientists adopt habitual patterns of encoding according to the key relational principles in their domain, and that this contributes to their propensity to spontaneously retrieve relational matches. We discuss implications for the nature of expertise and for science instruction and assessment.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Nicole D LaDue
- Department of Geology and Environmental Geosciences, Northern Illinois University
| | - Julie C Libarkin
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Michigan State University
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Brod G. How Can We Make Active Learning Work in K-12 Education? Considering Prerequisites for a Successful Construction of Understanding. Psychol Sci Public Interest 2021; 22:1-7. [PMID: 33871305 PMCID: PMC8056707 DOI: 10.1177/1529100621997376] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Garvin Brod
- Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education (DIPF), Frankfurt am Main, Germany.,Department of Psychology, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
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35
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Kirsten EB, Stewart I, McElwee J. Testing and Training Analogical Responding in Young Children Using A Relational Evaluation Procedure. PSYCHOLOGICAL RECORD 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s40732-021-00468-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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36
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Guarino KF, Wakefield EM, Morrison RG, Richland LE. Exploring how visual attention, inhibitory control, and co-speech gesture instruction contribute to children’s analogical reasoning ability. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cogdev.2021.101040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Brand CO, Mesoudi A, Smaldino PE. Analogy as a Catalyst for Cumulative Cultural Evolution. Trends Cogn Sci 2021; 25:450-461. [PMID: 33771450 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2021.03.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2020] [Revised: 02/19/2021] [Accepted: 03/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Analogies, broadly defined, map novel concepts onto familiar concepts, making them essential for perception, reasoning, and communication. We argue that analogy-building served a critical role in the evolution of cumulative culture by allowing humans to learn and transmit complex behavioural sequences that would otherwise be too cognitively demanding or opaque to acquire. The emergence of a protolanguage consisting of simple labels would have provided early humans with the cognitive tools to build explicit analogies and to communicate them to others. This focus on analogy-building can shed new light on the coevolution of cognition and culture and addresses recent calls for better integration of the field of cultural evolution with cognitive science.
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Affiliation(s)
- C O Brand
- Human Behaviour and Cultural Evolution Group, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK.
| | - A Mesoudi
- Human Behaviour and Cultural Evolution Group, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK
| | - P E Smaldino
- Department of Cognitive and Information Sciences, University of California, Merced, CA, USA
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Chae SE, Alexander PA. The Development of Relational Reasoning in South Korean Elementary and Middle-School Students: A Cross-Sectional Investigation. Front Psychol 2021; 12:630609. [PMID: 33746850 PMCID: PMC7970051 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.630609] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2020] [Accepted: 02/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Relational reasoning is a higher-order executive function that involves the ability to perceive meaningful patterns within a body of seemingly unrelated information. In this study, the ability of 749 fourth (Mage = 10), sixth (Mage = 12), eighth (Mage = 14), and tenth graders (Mage = 16) to identify meaningful relational patterns was investigated. This general cognitive ability was assessed by means of the Test of Relational Reasoning-Junior (TORRjr), a 32-item measure organized into four 8-item scales that assess analogical, anomalous, antinomous, and antithetical reasoning. Students’ performance on the TORRjr was analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis, measurement invariance test, and non-parametric median-based analyses. The confirmatory factor analysis supported that the higher-order factor model was the best fit for the TORRjr data for the Korean students. The measurement was determined to be invariant by gender but variant across grade levels. The non-parametric analysis resulted in an asymptotic (a constant increasing up to grade 6 and then a level off witnessed from grades 8 to 10) development pattern in overall relational reasoning across the grades. In comparison to analogy and anomaly, antinomy and antithesis scores were more fully developed by grade 8 and that level of performance was maintained at grade 10. The TORRjr appeared to be a viable measure for the Korean samples up to approximately 15 years of age. The significance of these findings for research and instructional practice are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Soo Eun Chae
- Department of Teacher Education, Gangneung-Wonju National University, Gangneung, South Korea
| | - Patricia A Alexander
- Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States
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Abstract
The fusion of personal and group identities can lead to self-sacrificial progroup behavior, from acts of charity to violent extremism. Two pathways to identity fusion-via shared biology and shared experiences-have been proposed. In this article, we elucidate a new developmental account of the origins and mechanisms of these two pathways to identity fusion from childhood to adulthood. Whereas fusion based on shared biology occurs from early childhood cued by phenotypic similarity, fusion based on episodic memories of shared experiences is not possible until midadolescence and relies on suitable bonding experiences (e.g., painful initiation rituals, emotionally intense team sports). The critical development that enables fusion based on shared experiences is autobiographical reasoning, which entails connecting one's past experiences to the present self. Autobiographical reasoning begins in adolescence, which may explain the flourishing of fusion in late adolescence and young adulthood relative to other life periods. Fusion via either pathway is linked to strong progroup behavior. We outline a program of empirical research on the development of identity fusion while addressing relevant methodological challenges. A developmental framework may help foster efforts to harness identity fusion for peaceful rather than violent forms of self-sacrifice for the group.
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Krzemien M, Seret E, Maillart C. The generalisation of linguistic constructions in children with or without developmental language disorders. JOURNAL OF CHILD LANGUAGE 2021; 48:413-427. [PMID: 32423494 DOI: 10.1017/s0305000920000288] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
The generalisation of linguistic constructions is performed through analogical reasoning. Children with developmental language disorders (DLD) are impaired in analogical reasoning and in generalisation. However, these processes are improved by an input involving variability and similarity. Here we investigated the performance of children with or without DLD in a construction generalisation task. We also compared their performance following training with an input involving progressive alignment (combining similarity and variability) or high variability. Progressive alignment improves construction generalisation in children with or without DLD, which could have implications for our understanding of language development and for interventions conducted with children with DLD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Magali Krzemien
- Department of Speech and Language Therapy, Research Unit on Childhood, University of Liège, Belgium
| | - Esther Seret
- Department of Speech and Language Therapy, Research Unit on Childhood, University of Liège, Belgium
| | - Christelle Maillart
- Department of Speech and Language Therapy, Research Unit on Childhood, University of Liège, Belgium
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41
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Negative emotions influence EEG correlates of inference formation during analogical reasoning. Int J Psychophysiol 2021; 162:49-59. [PMID: 33549608 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2021.02.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2020] [Revised: 12/02/2020] [Accepted: 02/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Previous research indicates that negative emotions influence cognitive resource utilization during analogical reasoning. However, no research has yet demonstrated an influence of negative emotions on inference formation during analogical reasoning. For this reason, we used evoked response potentials to investigate how negatively valenced content affects inference formation during analogical reasoning. Participants generated inferences about the missing term of 256 four-term analogies consisting of a first pair (A is to B), a second incomplete pair (as C is to?), and a probe term (D). We manipulated the affective valence of the terms (negative/neutral) forming the first two pairs and the soundness of the analogies. In Experiment 1, the terms were words and the relations were semantic in nature. We recorded the N400 event-related component time-locked to the probe term. The effect of analogy soundness on N400 amplitude was weaker when both pairs of terms were negative than when one or both pairs were neutral. In Experiment 2, we used analogies with negatively or neutrally conditioned symbols as terms, and visuospatial transformations as relations. We recorded the P3b event-related component time-locked to the final term of the analogy. The effect of analogy soundness on P3b amplitude was weaker when the first pair of terms was negatively conditioned than when they were neutrally conditioned. Results of both experiments suggested that negatively valenced content impairs the formation of inferences during analogical reasoning, as indicated by reduced effects of analogy soundness on N400 and P3b in the presence of negatively valenced content.
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Population differences in performance on Relational Match to Sample (RMTS) sometimes reflect differences in inductive biases alone. Curr Opin Behav Sci 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2020.11.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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43
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A model for learning structured representations of similarity and relative magnitude from experience. Curr Opin Behav Sci 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2021.01.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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Wakefield EM, Novack MA, Congdon EL, Howard LH. Individual differences in gesture interpretation predict children's propensity to pick a gesturer as a good informant. J Exp Child Psychol 2021; 205:105069. [PMID: 33445006 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2020.105069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2020] [Revised: 11/25/2020] [Accepted: 12/10/2020] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
To learn from others, children rely on cues (e.g., familiarity, confidence) to infer who around them will provide useful information. We extended this research to ask whether children will use an informant's inclination to gesture as a marker of whether or not the informant is a good person to learn from. Children (N = 459, ages 4-12 years) watched short videos in which actresses made statements accompanied by meaningful iconic gestures, beat gestures (which act as prosodic markers with speech), or no gestures. After each trial, children were asked "Who do you think would be a good teacher?" (good teacher [experimental] condition) or "Who do you think would be a good friend?" (good friend [control] condition). Results show that children do believe that someone who produces iconic gesture would make a good teacher compared with someone who does not, but this is only later in childhood and only if children have the propensity to see gesture as meaningful. The same effects were not found in the good friend condition, indicating that children's responses are not just about liking an adult who gestures more. These findings have implications for how children attend to and learn from instructional gesture.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Miriam A Novack
- Department of Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, USA
| | - Eliza L Congdon
- Department of Psychology, Williams College, Williamstown, MA 01267, USA
| | - Lauren H Howard
- Department of Psychology, Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, PA 17604, USA
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Strouse GA, Ganea PA. The effect of object similarity and alignment of examples on children's learning and transfer from picture books. J Exp Child Psychol 2020; 203:105041. [PMID: 33279828 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2020.105041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2020] [Revised: 10/15/2020] [Accepted: 10/28/2020] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Story picture books with examples can be used to teach young children science concepts. Learners can abstract relational information by comparing the analogical examples in the books, leading to a more abstract transferrable understanding of the concept. The purpose of this study was to determine whether manipulating the content or arrangement of the examples included in a picture book would support children's generalization and transfer of a relational concept, namely color camouflage. In total, 81 3-year-olds and 80 4-year-olds were read one of four books at two visits spaced approximately 1 week apart. Examples were manipulated in a 2 (Object Similarity: high or low) × 2 (Arrangement: interleaved or blocked) design. At each visit, children were asked forced-choice questions with photographs (generalization) and real animals (transfer) and needed to explain their choices. At the first visit, only 3-year-olds who had been read a book with high object similarity displayed generalization and transfer. After they were read the same book again at the second visit, 3-year-olds in all conditions performed above chance on generalization questions but made more correct selections if they had been read the books with blocked examples. The 4-year-olds showed no book-related differences on forced-choice questions at either visit but gave better explanations at the second visit if they had been read interleaved books. Our study provides evidence that picture books with analogical examples can be used to teach children about science but that different types and arrangements of examples may better support children at different ages and with different amounts of prior experience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabrielle A Strouse
- Division of Counseling and Psychology in Education, Vermillion, SD 57069, USA; Center for Brain and Behavior Research, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD 57069, USA.
| | - Patricia A Ganea
- Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1V6, Canada
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Bias and sensitivity to task constraints in spontaneous relational attention. J Exp Child Psychol 2020; 202:104981. [PMID: 33161340 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2020.104981] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/25/2019] [Revised: 07/17/2020] [Accepted: 08/07/2020] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Two experiments examined factors that predicted children's tendencies to match objects versus relations across scenes when no instruction was given. Specifically, we assessed the presence of higher relational responding in children by (a) age, (b) greater presumed experience in generating relations through socialization in China versus the United States, and (c) in children with greater manipulated experience via a relational priming task. Experiment 1 showed that Chinese and U.S. children across all ages showed an initial bias to match objects versus relations across scenes. However, older children in both regions were more likely to notice features of the task that indicated attending to relational matches was a more reliable solution, and shifted their responding toward relations over the course of the task. Experiment 2 replicated the object-mapping bias and age effects within U.S. children while also examining the impact of directly manipulating children's relational experiences to test the malleability of the bias. Before the main scene-mapping task, children did a relation generation task known to prime attention to relations. This did not override the initial bias toward object mapping, but it magnified the role of age, making older children increasingly sensitive to task features that prompted relational matches, further shifting their responding toward relations over the course of the task.
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48
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Guarino KF, Wakefield EM. Teaching Analogical Reasoning With Co-speech Gesture Shows Children Where to Look, but Only Boosts Learning for Some. Front Psychol 2020; 11:575628. [PMID: 33071916 PMCID: PMC7538547 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.575628] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2020] [Accepted: 08/20/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
In general, we know that gesture accompanying spoken instruction can help children learn. The present study was conducted to better understand how gesture can support children's comprehension of spoken instruction and whether the benefit of teaching though speech and gesture over spoken instruction alone depends on differences in cognitive profile - prior knowledge children have that is related to a to-be-learned concept. To answer this question, we explored the impact of gesture instruction on children's analogical reasoning ability. Children between the ages of 4 and 11 years solved scene analogy problems before and after speech alone or speech and gesture instruction while their visual attention was monitored. Our behavioral results suggest a marginal benefit of gesture instruction over speech alone, but only 5-year-old children showed a distinct advantage from speech + gesture instruction when solving the post-instruction trial, suggesting that at this age, children have the cognitive profile in place to utilize the added support of gesture. Furthermore, while speech + gesture instruction facilitated effective visual attention during instruction, directing attention away from featural matches and toward relational information was pivotal for younger children's success post instruction. We consider how these results contribute to the gesture-for-learning literature and consider how the nuanced impact of gesture is informative for educators teaching tasks of analogy in the classroom.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katharine F Guarino
- Department of Psychology, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
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Boucheix JM, Lowe RK, Thibaut JP. A Developmental Perspective on Young Children's Understandings of Paired Graphics Conventions From an Analogy Task. Front Psychol 2020; 11:2032. [PMID: 33013512 PMCID: PMC7461858 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.02032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2020] [Accepted: 07/22/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The present study investigated children’s understanding development of multiple graphics, here paired conventions commonly used in primary school textbooks. Paired graphics depicting everyday objects familiar to the children were used as the basis for an analogy task that tested their comprehension of five graphics conventions. This task required participants to compare pictures in a base pair in order to complete a target pair by choosing the correct picture from five alternative possibilities. Four groups of children aged 5, 6, 8, and 10 years old respectively (total N = 105), completed 45 analogy task items built around nine conceptual domains. Results showed mainly an overall increase of comprehension performance with age for all the tested conventions. There were also differences between the five conventions and an interaction between age and convention type. Further, children’s explanation of the conventions (justification of the choices in the analogy task) were also analyzed. This investigation showed the analogy task answers were a more reliable measure of the “actual” level of understanding of the conventions than the justification themselves. The findings show that younger students tried to actively compare the pictures of the pairs and to search for a relevant meaning of the pairs, however, the youngest children have a limited capacity to interpret paired graphic conventions and our results suggests that this aspect of graphic conventions develops slowly but effectively over the course of children’s schooling. Because “graphicacy” knowledge and skills are not typically taught in primary school classrooms (in contrast with literacy and numeracy), its development is likely acquired incidentally with increasing exposure to varied paired graphics during primary school education. Given the high reliance of today’s educational resources on graphics-based explanations, the results from this study may signal a need for (i) for more attention to learning graphics conventions (and more generally to graphics explanations) from teachers in primary school and (ii) for a better design of the graphics with their contextual accompanying texts and captions, from designers.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Richard K Lowe
- LEAD-CNRS, UMR 5022, University of Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Dijon, France.,School of Education, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
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Sidney PG. Children’s learning from implicit analogies during instruction: Evidence from fraction division. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cogdev.2020.100956] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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