3-177 - Setting the stage for abstraction: Developing analogical reasoning in context

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Analogical reasoning underlies the acquisition and application of abstract concepts and the logical relations that govern them. Yet, little is known about the naturalistic contexts that support the development of this powerful cognitive ability. Much of the existing literature suggests that preschool-aged children struggle to reason analogically—that is, they do not spontaneously privilege relational information over surface similarities. However, the majority of this research has relied upon decontextualized tasks, such as matching static images of abstract patterns or shapes. With scaffolding, such as labels and prompts to compare, children are more likely to succeed. However, these cues represent only a fraction of children’s experience with relational reasoning in the real world. Given that typically developing children become competent at abstract reasoning over time, how might naturalistic contexts support this development? What are the conditions—social, physical, causal, etc.—in which abstract relations become privileged, relevant, and available for young children's reasoning?

This symposium focuses on the naturalistic antecedents for analogical reasoning in preschool-aged children. The first half of the symposium explores how social contexts support relational reasoning: Christie & Kumar demonstrate that children are sensitive to same-different relations in social contexts, and Simms, Richland, & Frausel examine the effect of parent-child interactions on relational orientations. The second half explores other contextual factors. Hubachek, Vendetti, & Walker discuss how semantically near and far analogies promote early attention to either individual objects or spatial relations. Finally, Goddu, Lombrozo & Gopnik explore how causal framing facilitates analogical reasoning and generating broad “overhypotheses.”

Sub Unit

• Cognitive Processes

Chairs

• Mariel Goddu, UC Berkeley

• Caren Walker, UCSD

Individual Presentations

• Relational reasoning about social groups affects imitation learning - Presenting Author: Stella Christie, Swarthmore College; Sona Kumar, Swarthmore College

• Social supports for relational orientation and analogical reasoning - Presenting Author: Nina Simms, Northwestern University; Lindsey E. Richland, University of Chicago; Rebecca Frausel, University of Chicago

• Generating “far” analogies promotes relational reasoning in early childhood - Presenting Author: Samantha Hubachek, UCSF/San Francisco VA Medical Center; Michael Vendetti, Oracle; Caren Walker, UCSD

• Analogical transfer for causal events in 3- and 4-year-olds - Presenting Author: Mariel Goddu, UC Berkeley; Tania Lombrozo, University of California at Berkeley; Alison Gopnik, University of California, Berkeley