Training in Analogical Reasoning Processes: Effects on Low Socioeconomic Status Preschool Children

Abstract

In this investigation we examined the effects of a training program on low socioeconomic status 4- and 5-year-olds’ solutions of geometric analogy problems. Twenty-six 4- and 5-year-old children were assigned to training, play, or control groups. The trained subjects participated in three consecutive sessions, which were based on Sternberg’s (1977) component processes underlying analogical reasoning. Instructional procedures followed an explicit instruction model that emphasized teacher explanation, student participation in problem solution, continual teacher modeling and feedback, and independent student practice. Analyses revealed significant performance gains for the trained group (compared with the play and control groups). Additional analyses of group verbal responses reflected the trained group’s increased attention to the higher order relations in the analogy problems following training.