Transfer Between Analogies: How Solving One Analogy Problem Helps to Solve Another

Abstract

This paper deals with transfer between analogies; with what people acquire from one analogy problem-solving episode that can be re-applied to a subsequent analogy, problem-solving episode. This issue must be resolved if we are to understand the nature of expertise and the appropriate use of analogy in education. There are two main explanations of what subjects acquire from an analogy problem-solving episode. The schema-induction hypothesis maintains that subjects acquire an abstract schema of the analogous domains, that can be re-applied to a subsequent situation. The predicatemapping hypothesis asserts that subjects acquire a set of predicate-mappings than can be re-used in a later situation. While there is empirical evidence to support each of these hypotheses, no critical test between them has been carried out. Furthermore, no previous research has examined transfer between analogies; that is, transfer between two distinct, analogy problem-solving episodes. The present study uses a novel paradigm to test transfer between analogies in a manner that constitutes a critical test of the above two hypotheses, using attribute-mapping and relational-mapping problems. The results support the schema-induction account.