Is Relational Reasoning Ability Malleable? (Poster 33)

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Thursday 9:50 a.m.
  In Poster Session: Learning Processes: Reasoning, Memory, and Executive Functioning

Abstract

Relational reasoning is an ability to find patterns within an information stream. Research has pointed to a developmental nature of this ability. However, there has been limited research into whether relational reasoning is malleable. In this study, several sections of a course received either four days of explicit instruction on relational reasoning or received the typical coverage of this topic in the course of one class period. Students took the Test of Relational Reasoning (TORR) prior to receiving instruction and then again two weeks after receiving instruction. Both receiving the limited and extended instruction resulted in an increase in relational reasoning ability as measured by the TORR, suggesting that exposure to these concepts helps students improve their relational reasoning ability.

Authors

• Patricia A. Alexander, University of Maryland

• Margaret Word Logan, University of Maryland

• Alina Maki, University of Maryland

• Nancy Gans, University of Maryland