Abstract
This study investigated the development of analogical problem solving. Specifically, it examined whether preschoolers could solve a problem by extracting a solution from an analogous story. Children in the younger age group (age range＝4 ; 4–5 ; 4 years) and older age group (age range＝5 ; 4–6 ; 4) were presented with stories about problem-solving and asked to solve a practical problem; the solution to the problem was similar to what was embedded in the analogous stories. Half of the children who were presented with two stories were also asked to describe similarities between the stories, while the other half were not. The results showed that the older children spontaneously solved the problem without needing to compare the stories explicitly. However, the younger children generally could not solve the analogical problem spontaneously. However, the younger children who were asked to compare the two stories were able to solve the problem. These results suggest that children develop the ability to identify common structures between stories and problems at about 5 1/2 years of age, which allows them to solve analogous problems in their own lives.
