TY - JOUR
T1 - Where hypotheses come from
T2 - Learning new relations by structural alignment
AU - Christie, Stella
AU - Gentner, Dedre
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by National Science Foundation (NSF) Science of Learning Center (SLC) Grant SBE-0541957 awarded to the Spatial Intelligence and Learning Center.
PY - 2010
Y1 - 2010
N2 - We test whether comparison can promote learning of new relational abstractions. In Experiment 1, preschoolers heard labels for novel spatial patterns and were asked to extend the label to one of two alternatives: one sharing an object with the standard or one having the same relational pattern as the standard. Children strongly preferred the object match when given one standard but were significantly more likely to choose the relational match when they compared two standards. Experiment 2 provided evidence that comparison processing-as opposed to simply seeing two exemplars-is necessary for this relational effect. Preschoolers who were shown the two standards sequentially without a prompt to compare them preferred object matches, as did those who viewed only one standard. In contrast, those who saw the exemplars together, with a prompt to compare them, showed the same elevated relational responding as found in Experiment 1. We suggest that structural alignment processes are crucial to developing new relational abstractions.
AB - We test whether comparison can promote learning of new relational abstractions. In Experiment 1, preschoolers heard labels for novel spatial patterns and were asked to extend the label to one of two alternatives: one sharing an object with the standard or one having the same relational pattern as the standard. Children strongly preferred the object match when given one standard but were significantly more likely to choose the relational match when they compared two standards. Experiment 2 provided evidence that comparison processing-as opposed to simply seeing two exemplars-is necessary for this relational effect. Preschoolers who were shown the two standards sequentially without a prompt to compare them preferred object matches, as did those who viewed only one standard. In contrast, those who saw the exemplars together, with a prompt to compare them, showed the same elevated relational responding as found in Experiment 1. We suggest that structural alignment processes are crucial to developing new relational abstractions.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77955387636&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=77955387636&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/15248371003700015
DO - 10.1080/15248371003700015
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:77955387636
SN - 1524-8372
VL - 11
SP - 356
EP - 373
JO - Journal of Cognition and Development
JF - Journal of Cognition and Development
IS - 3
ER -