幼児におけるルールと具体例の関係理解レベルと転移課題解決との関連について

動物の擬態を学習内容とした場合

抄録

This study examined children's ability to learn the rule of biological mimicry as a method of defense and to transfer it to new animals. In three experiments, five-year-olds were asked to listen to a story that included the rule. They were then asked questions prompting them to relate the rule to one or two examples. The transfer problems consisted of a “method-problem” that asked a method of an unfamiliar animal's mimicry, and two “advantage-problems” that asked what the advantages of unfamiliar animals' mimicries would be. Major results were as follows: 1) The children who failed to relate the rule and the example couldn't solve any of the transfer problems. 2) Relating the rule and the example however, partly enhanced their solution. That is, their generalization of the rule from the example was effective only in the “advantage-problems”. Their derivation of the example from the rule was effective only in the “method-problem”. 3) Two-way relating, which involved both the generalization and the derivation, promoted solving both of the transfer problems.