Analogical Transfer in Very Young Children: Combining Two Separately Learned Solutions to Reach a Goal

Abstract

In 5 studies, the learning and transfer abilities of 2-4-year-old children were examined on a task in which they were required to combine 2 separately learned solutions to reach a goal. The 3 main findings are very early competence on the task if it is situated in familiar settings, a developmental trend in the ability to notice the similarity across analogous versions of the problem that differ in surface format but share the same underlying logic, and the success of 2 forms of assistance in promoting transfer. Both emphasizing task similarity and encouraging the children to talk about the rules ensure that they will notice problem similarity and hence afford them the opportunity to apply the learned rules appropriately. Difficulties with noticing similarity, rather than in applying the rule, lead to transfer failure. Given a hospitable environment, children as young as 2-3 years of age can combine information and apply a reasoning rule quite broadly.