Can preschoolers transfer to the problem solving the knowledge that get from the story?

Promote the analogy by common attributes

Abstract

This research investigated the development of skill of transferring the story to the problem solving in preschoolers. In Experiment 1, four- and five-year-old class children were first presented with an analog story that provided a solution to a problem, and then were asked to solve a problem with tools. In the attribution condition, the experimenter told the children the attributes of each tool. One of the tools presented had an attribute similar to that in the story. The results showed that children in the attribution condition could solve the problem better than children in the control condition, who were not told about the attributes of the tools. In Experiment 2, four-year-old class children performed two tasks (the easier one and the more difficult one) in a procedure similar to that in Experiment 1, except for the presentation: the experimenter relayed both the attributes and functions of the tools in another condition. found that the children in the attribution condition could solve an easier task. In addition, they could not solve the more difficult task in the attribution condition, but could do so in the attribution and function condition.