Worth One Thousand Words: Children's Use of Pictures in Analogical Problem Solving

This research examined whether and how young children gain insight from source pictures in solving problems by analogy. Three- to 5-year-olds viewed a series of source pictures illustrating a problem solution, interpreted the conceptual meaning of the pictures, and then attempted to solve an analogous problem. The results suggest that children between 3 and 5 years of age are capable of extracting the conceptual meaning from pictures to solve analogous problems. Problem solving by pictorial analogy involves 3 key components: representing the conceptual meaning depicted in source pictures, drawing an analogy between source pictures and the target problem, and implementing the source solution or strategy in solving the target problem. Overall, older children were less likely to experience difficulties in executing these components and therefore were more effective in solving the analogous problems. Theoretical and educational implications are discussed.

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