日常的類推課題における幼児と児童の知識の一般性

抄録

The present study investigated how general the knowledge is which preschool and elementary school children can transfer to an everyday analogical task. 86 preschoolers and 86 third graders were assigned to experimental or control conditions. Children of experimental conditions were given one of four stories. The four stories were analogy 1 : "A child helped mother lay the table and was given a reward," analogy 2 : "A child helped mother clean the room and was given a reward," analogy 3 : "A chrld patted mother's shoulder and was grven a reward," and analogy 4 : "A child mastered an iron bar and was given a reward." Children of the control condition was not given any story. Then all the children were asked what they would do when they wanted an icecream and mother was clearing the table. Preschoolers given analogies 1 and 2 and third graders given analogies 1, 2, and 3 answered that they would help mother and they did so often spontaneously. The results implied even preschoolers can transfer fairly general knowledge and third graders more general knowledge.