Deep thinking in children: The case for knowledge change in analogical development

Halford, Wilson & Phillips argue that cognitive development is driven by in creases in processing capacity. We suggest that changes in relational knowl edge are as important or more so. We present evidence that 3-year-olds' ana logical abilities are sharply improved by teaching them relational labels; over a 30-minute experimental session children gained approximately 2 years in effective performance. These results mandate caution interpreting age-r elated change as indicating maturational change, and call for a deeper cons ideration of the role of epistemological change in cognitive development.