EFFECTS OF INSTRUCTIONAL AND LEARNER VARIABLES ON CHILDRENS ANALOGICALLY BASED MISREPRESENTATIONS

The influence of one instructional variable (context) and two learner variables (age and verbal aptitude) on the analogical mapping decision s of third- and sixth-grade children (N = 96) were analyzed. In contra st to an appended control group (n = 17), learners presented with an i nterdomain instructional analogy consistently demonstrated target-doma in misrepresentations based on an alternative relational system, irrel evant relations, and literal object attributes. High-verbal-aptitude c hildren incorrectly mapped irrelevant relations more frequently under specific context conditions than under general context conditions. Low -verbal-aptitude children made fewer irrelevant relational inferences when provided with a specific context for the analogy than when provid ed with a general context. These results suggest that both structure m apping and pragmatic views of analogical transfer are incomplete accou nts of the mapping process for young learners.