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This paper presents a visual analogy that may be used by instructors to teach the concept of statistical power in statistical courses. Statistical power is mathematically defined as the probability of rejecting a null hypothesis when that null is false, or, equivalently, the probability of detecting a relationship when it exists. The analogy involved a group of hikers in desert heat who are faced with the possibility that a pool of water seen by only one hiker is a mirage. Effect size, sample size, and significance level are discussed in terms of the mirage analogy. Type I errors, error variance, and directionality are also discussed in terms of the optical analogy. (SLD)

This study explored what first grade children say and know about the use of "word walls." Sixty-three first graders and their three teachers were interviewed about their perceptions and use of the word wall. Interview answers showed that the students in this study used the word wall for writing and spelling words and teacher directed activities. Additional results appear to show that the instructional emphasis of a teacher will influence how and when the children use the word wall. This finding implies that for analogy instruction with word walls to be effective, direct and systematic teacher instruction must occur. Appendixes contain the survey instrument, a letter to parents, and data. (Contains 31 references, 7 tables, and 15 figures.) (Author/RS)

Self-regulation components linked to academic problem-solving were studied. Cognitive process instruction on analogy problems was given to 63 undergraduates on a Monday. On Wednesday, problem-solving performance within the inductive reasoning domain was assessed with 30 Remote Associate Test (RAT) problems. On Friday, problem-solving performance between the inductive and deductive problem-solving task of 20 categorical syllogism problems was assessed. Results indicate that both within- and between-domain problem-solving performance is influenced by knowledge acquired prior to practice. In both cases, this influence is indirect, being mediated by the learner's ability to monitor working memory during practice. Self-efficacy assessed during practice is directly linked to within-domain, but not between-domain problem solving. On the other hand, eductive mental activity directly influenced between-domain, but not within-domain problem-solving performance in this study. Exploratory path analysis can provide insight into the relative roles played by selected cognitive-motivational components of self-regulation when learners are required to adopt to changing demands during problem solving. (Contains one figure, three tables, and four references.) (SLD)

Scientific language is not simply for recording facts but it is also an instrument of thought. It has a central role in not only developing a sense of social identity for members of the scientific community and students in the classroom but also in inculcating views on the nature of science and reality itself. Physicists have created a language in which the fundamental components and symmetries of the world cannot be observed. It is not the case that there is a non-metaphorical physics that has to be made intelligible using figurative language--analogy and metaphor are inherent in the nature of physics. Figurative thinking lies at the heart of scientific thinking. Some results of an empirical investigation of students' conceptions of figurative language are described following an analysis of the nature of metaphors, analogies, and models. Contains 55 references. (Author/NB)

A study examined the role of prior knowledge in teacher-generated analogies and student-generated analogies that convey the concept of protein synthesis. Subjects were 269 eighth-grade students enrolled in a public school district in a northern suburb of Chicago, Illinois. Subjects were divided into groups that received traditional instruction, generated their own analogies, or received teacher-generated analogies for instruction. Student performance was measured using a publisher's multiple-choice test and a short-answer test to assess knowledge about protein synthesis before instruction, immediately after instruction, and one month after instruction. Results indicated that in both the immediate posttest and the one-month posttest, prior knowledge was a significant variable in predicting the student's performance on the posttests. Findings suggest that a foundation of science knowledge seems requisite to the efficient and effective use of teacher-generated analogies as well as student-generated analogies. Teachers should take pains to use analogies based on domains already familiar to the students and should make clear the semantic and structural correspondences between the analogs that are important for providing the desired explanation. (Contains 16 references and 2 tables of data.) (RS)

The existence of probability misconceptions at all levels has been well documented. Furthermore, these misconceptions have been shown to be widespread and highly resistant to change. Previous research has shown considerable success in overcoming misconceptions in the short term by basing the knowledge reconstruction process on problems which draw out beliefs held by students which are in agreement with accepted theory and which are therefore expected to receive correct responses. Such problems are referred to as anchoring situations or anchors. Anchoring probability situations which are conceptually analogous to misconception-prone/target probability situations were generated and tested with secondary mathematics students. The testing showed that probability misconceptions were common but also that anchors for overcoming these misconceptions could be generated. Anchoring situations were effectively used in overcoming students' probability misconceptions in the short term. A follow-up study showed that short term effects were retained over a 6-month period, thereby establishing the long term effectiveness of the approach. (Contains 35 references and 2 tables of data. Appendixes present a sample interview protocol and definitions of interview ratings.) (Author/RS)

A study examined the role that an elaborate analogy can play when high school students learn a concept from a leading science textbook. The elaborate analogy had graphic and text components that integrated and mapped key features from the analogy (a factory) to the target concept (an animal cell). The target features were parts of the cell and, by association, their functions. Subjects were 72 ninth-grade students in 3 standard biology classes of an urban, public high school. The analogy increased the students' recall of the target features in the analogy, but not the other features. By mapping the features of the familiar factory schema onto those of the animal cell, the analogy presumably acted as a mediator and made the corresponding features of the animal cell more meaningful and memorable. The students did not make any errors associated with the analogy during recall; however, the students did make other errors that revealed basic misunderstandings about cells. (Contains 34 references, and 2 tables and 3 figures of data.) (Author/RS)

Synectics is the use of thinking in metaphors, or figurative language in general, to see the familiar in unfamiliar ways or the unfamiliar in familiar ways. W.J.J. Gordon and his Cambridge Synectics Group isolated ways to think metaphorically by using artistic problem-solving mechanisms most people possess in their experiential background. This paper shows how Gordon's synectics mechanisms can be incorporated in introductory poetry writing instruction for public school students. These mechanisms include personal analogy, direct analogy, symbolic analogy, and fantasy analogy. Suggestions include: (1) starting out by reading poetry aloud to students without analyzing it; (2) beginning the writing with a list poem--students jot down words as quickly as they are perceived without worrying about final composition; and (3) beginning through prose writing, which frees the student to follow the flow of their words. The student then rewrites the prose piece with the addition of metaphors, trying to imagine what they wrote in a different light using Gordon's mechanisms. The prose can be transformed into a poem by including metaphors, shortening the sentences into brief phrases, then rearranging the spacing for lines. (Contains 10 references.) (AEF)

This report highlights key studies, salient findings, and the significance of research supported by the National Reading Research Center (NRRC), which was charged to conduct research on reading instruction appropriate for prekindergarten through 12th-grade learning environments. The first chapter of the report elaborates on a foundation principle of NRRC researchers--the "engagement perspective" which specifies the goal of reading instruction as developing motivated and strategic readers who use literacy for pleasure and learning. Chapters 2, 3, and 4 present key ideas contributed to or reinforced by the NRRC's 5-year research program. Chapter 2 addresses key ideas for preschool and elementary school reading, including: reading instruction should be systematic and integrated with quality children's literature; phonics should be taught explicitly within the context of authentic reading and writing activities; and literacy learning occurs both at school and home. Chapter 3 describes key ideas for middle school and high school reading, including: the use of multiple documents fosters students' interest in and learning of social studies content; a student-centered English curriculum motivates and promotes secondary students' literacy learning; and using analogies in science instruction aids students' learning and appreciation of science content. Chapter 4 presents key ideas for and about literacy teachers, such as: teachers who conduct research acquire personal insight about teaching and learning; and students serving as researches or informants provide insightful perspectives within the teacher-research process. Chapter 5 envisions what the NRRC legacy might be. Contains 196 notes. (RS)

A study examined the role that instructions to generate analogies can play when 56 middle-school eighth-grade and seventh-grade students learn a science textbook unit. The target concept on the unit was the cell and the key features of the concept were the cell parts and their functions. Prior to studying the unit on the cell, the students received a study guide, encouraging them to read carefully in preparation for a test on the unit. The study guide explained that the test would require the students to explain, in writing, the cell to another (hypothetical) student who was unfamiliar with the cell. The students in the experimental group were additionally instructed to generate analogies when they studied and to include these analogies in their explanations; these students were also given an example analogy in their study guide. Results indicated that the students in the experimental group included more analogies in their explanations than the students in the control group. In addition, the students in the experimental groups tended to recall more cell parts and functions than the students in the control group, but these differences were not statistically significant. Findings suggest that analogy instructions have the potential to increase text recall, but instructions in future studies should be more extensive and incorporate multiple examples of analogies. (Contains 20 references and 4 tables of data.) (Author/RS)

This study continued the research on analogy problem-solving on psychometric tests pursued by I. I. Bejar, R. Chaffin, and S. Embretson (1991). Characteristics of a semantic taxonomy and a cognitively and empirically motivated intensional/pragmatic (I/P) dichotomy were explored. There were two research questions: (1) Could the results of Bejar et al. be replicated with items from the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT)? and (2) Would factor analyses support the bidimensional processing structure suggested by the I/P distinction? A specially constructed test of disclosed SAT analogies was administered to a group of 189 undergraduate students. Although factor analyses did not support the expected bidimensionality, a better understanding of both the semantic taxonomy and the I/P dichotomy was achieved. Suggestions are given for future research. (Contains 2 tables, 7 figures, and 21 references.) (Author/SLD)

The study investigated the role of analogic instruction and reasoning level on the dependent measure of concept acquisition in an introductory college genetics course. The question of whether concept acquisition was facilitated through the use of instructional analogies was addressed. The control treatment consisted of expository instruction alone while the experimental treatment included instructional analogies. All students were given the same pretest measures of reasoning (the Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning) and prior genetics knowledge. The effect of analogy-based instruction on immediate (weekly quiz) as well as delayed (end of semester) achievement was investigated. The role of analogic instruction on student attitude was also evaluated. Significant gains in student achievement were found with instructional analogy. The attitude survey indicated that a majority of students who received instructional analogies believed analogy-based instruction was beneficial. Instructional analogies, pretest of prior genetics knowledge, sample quiz items, and student attitude surveys are included. Contains 50 references. (Author/JRH)

The identification of the characteristics of teaching experts can help beginning teachers to learn and provide a picture for both beginning science teachers and science educators on what has been accomplished and what has to be done in the future. This study, as part of an evaluation project, was intended to investigate the progress of a group of beginning chemistry teachers on teaching techniques that had been taught in a preservice training program. Fifteen beginning chemistry teachers were observed and videotaped in the classroom. The teachers had graduated from one of the three universities which provide the preservice training of chemistry teachers in Taiwan. The results reveal that the beginning chemistry teachers were able to improve significantly in the teaching techniques of asking divergent questions and giving appropriate wait time to students after questioning. However, almost no progress was made on the following teaching techniques: (1) using analogies to explain theoretical concepts; and (2) initiating classroom discussions. The quantitative results of the study indicate that a typical beginning science teacher tends to ask students to memorize science content knowledge and formulas. Contains 14 references. (LZ)

This study investigated fourth graders' (N=18) self-generated analogies and the effects of their collaborative reasoning and arguing over these analogies on individual understanding of three scientific phenomena concerning air pressure. The data were subjected to both a qualitative and quantitative analysis. The first showed that the children, on the basis of their alternative representations of what air could do, produced and used their own analogies as self-explanations both to help them learn the new material and communicate their understanding to others. Moreover, the analysis of the collaborative reasoning and arguing developed in small group discussions revealed that through steps of critical opposition and co-construction, the learners negotiated and renegotiated meanings and ideas to share a new common knowledge. The quantitative analysis showed that socio-cognitive interaction in small groups was fruitful as the children significantly progressed on an individual plane in giving their own explanations of each phenomenon as well as in recognizing the similarities between the three phenomena. In addition the qualitative data showed evidence that the children were able to exhibit metacognitive awareness of their conceptual growth. Educational implications are discussed. Contains 63 references. (Author/JRH)

It is important to incorporate visual thinking into science instruction. Imagination and perception play vital roles in scientific inquiry. Metaphors, like perceptions, are drawn from common experiences and are a means to anchor scientists' thought processes in generating a pattern that bridges the gap between the seen and the unseen. Metaphors (visual and verbal) that relate to the emotional, aesthetic, and social forces of scientific inquiry are instrumental for teaching the epistemology of science. While metaphors compare implicitly, analogies compare explicitly the structure of two domains. Analogies can aid students in constructing new conscious models. A qualitative study in which 12 different analogies were used by six teachers engaged in teaching high school science, shows considerable success in learning by analogy. Instructional implications from one recent study on the use of analogies in high school chemistry include the need to develop a personal repertoire of useful analogies; the necessity of using analogies that students relate to; and the importance of explicitly mapping the attributes between the source and the target. Research has shown that without direction and training, students are not likely to use any of the general methods of visualization. (AEF)

This study addresses questions about particle physics that focus on the nature of electrons. Speculations as to whether they are more like particles or waves or like neither illustrate the difficulties with which students are confronted when trying to incorporate the concepts of quantum physics into their overall conceptual framework. Such questions illustrate the difficulties in using analogies taken from ordinary experience, described mostly by classical models, in explaining the subatomic world. Data for this study were obtained from a semi-structured questionnaire completed by physics students (N=57). The questionnaire consisted of open and closed questions, drawings of particular situations, and attitude scales. Findings indicate that students are inclined to incorporate the new quantum phenomena into the older mechanistic conceptions and that most students are not epistemologically aware that quantum physics constitutes a new paradigm. Contains 16 references. (Author/DDR)

This paper describes two studies designed to examine the effect of instructional analogy training on the level of comprehension of 10 advanced physiological concepts. In the first study, 161 college students received instruction either with or without analogies. Levels of student performances were compared across three conditions: (1) concept lessons only, including definitions and examples for each concept; (2) similar concept lessons, but with an analogy included for each concept; and (3) analogy concept lessons with additional prompts guiding analogy use. In the second study, immediate and delayed comprehension of 94 college students was compared between groups receiving concept lessons with and without analogies. Results showed significantly higher scores of comprehension, both immediately and after the delayed period, for those students who had received the analogies. Moreover, students receiving analogies reported higher levels of perceived lesson enjoyment. Results are discussed in terms of the prescriptive use of analogies within instructional materials and future research possibilities. Two graphs compare performances. (Contains 75 references.) (Author/SLD)

This study examined how learning a problem-solving strategy or schema in one or two distinct content areas with copying or explaining of the strategy affected students' ability to transfer that strategy to a new content area. Eighty-one regular and 56 honors junior high school students (grades 6 and 7) were presented with story problems and their solutions in one or two content areas. Students also completed plan worksheets in which they copied or explained the underlying strategy. In a transfer task, students were asked to solve a new story problem and to complete a questionnaire about metacognitive strategy use. They were then given a hint to use the previously learned story problems and a second chance to solve the problem. Copying or explaining the strategy had no effect on subsequent transfer. For regular students, exposure to a strategy in two content areas significantly enhanced pre-hint, but not post-hint, performance. Two-content honors students performed better on the post-hint task than did one-content students, but there were no differences in pre-hint transfer. Honors students reported more metacognitive strategy use. A direct relationship was found between transfer and metacognitive scores, with higher-performing students reporting more metacognitive strategy use. Plan worksheets and the questionnaire are appended. (Contains 32 references, 1 figure, and 2 tables.) (SLD)

The purpose of this study was to determine whether it is both possible and cost-effective to revise middle-difficulty Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) discrete items in order to produce items of higher or lower difficulty. The basic procedure was to select items of a given difficulty and, by revising the distractors, make them easier or more difficult. It was found that it is significantly easier to increase the difficulty of middle-difficulty items than to reduce the difficulty of such items and that the difficulties of antonyms and analogies are much easier to manipulate than those of sentence completions. The evidence also suggests that producing harder analogies and antonyms by revising items in this manner would be a cost-effective procedure. Nine appendixes present definitions of GRE content categories, examples of revised items, statistical analysis results for revised items and the tests, pretest yields, and cost figures. Three tables illustrate the discussion. (SLD)

The acquisition of expertise involves the adoption of a between-systems problem-solving approach. A between-systems problem-solving approach involves (1) category restructuring; (2) analogy formation; and (3) solution construction using symmetrical and asymmetrical mapping information. Category restructuring permits the expert to reframe the initial problem state. Reframing the problem leads to the formation of analogical functional and complementary connections between category members. The identification of symmetrical and asymmetrical mappings determines the extent to which information from an analogous system can be borrowed with or without modification, and subsequently incorporated into a problem solution. (Contains 25 references and 2 figures.) (Author)

Communication theorists often make a distinction between two different ways in which a sign or a symbol can evoke meaning. In digital representation, the symbol's domain of reference is conceptually carved up into discrete units represented by purely arbitrary symbols. In analogical representation, the symbol retains a continuous correspondence with one or more dimensions of its referent. Recent scholarship has tended to emphasize the digital side, but this paper draws attention to aspects of analogical representation, arguing that the mental process through which viewers derive meaning from pictures is often based on implicit analogical thinking. Analogical thinking seems to play a major role in the evocation of meaning through abstract qualities and the control of the viewer's emotional engagement through point of view. The most obvious locus of analogical significance in film and television may be in editing. Analogical implications are central to a wide array of visual devices, and it is possible that in learning to make sense of visual communication, we also acquire an enhanced facility in analogical thinking. (Contains 38 references.) (SLD)

The focus of this report is children's construction and analogical transfer of mathematical knowledge during novel problem solving, as reflected in their strategies for dealing with isomorphic combinatorial problems presented in "hands-on" and written form. Case studies of 9-year-olds, one low and one high achieving in school mathematics, serve to illustrate a general progression through three identified stages of strategy construction (non-planning stage, transitional stage, and odometer stage). The important role of domain-general strategies in this development is highlighted. It was found that achievement level in school mathematics does not predict children's attainment of the third stage, as evidenced by the low-achieving student's construction of sophisticated combinatorial knowledge and the high-achieving student's failure to do so. Children's ability to recognize structural correspondence between two isomorphic problem sets and the extent to which this facilitates problem solution are also reported. The study concludes that: (1) Children can construct important mathematical ideas through solving novel problems; (2) Level of achievement in school mathematics is not a reliable predictor of ability to solve novel problems; (3) Bright students' ability to generate ideas for themselves can be inhibited by formal mathematical rules; and (4) Assessment of students' mathematical competence must include a range of novel problems. (Contains 72 references.) (MDH)

This paper examines whether an experimental treatment that encourages generativity and meaningful encoding can facilitate spontaneous analogical thinking, measuring the spontaneous generation of a relevant analog in solving a problem rather than the amount of factual material learned. Sixty-eight undergraduate students participated by reading the Attack-Dispersion Story (M. L. Gick and K. J. Holyoak, 1980) and writing a summary of each paragraph or the whole story or an analogy for each paragraph or the story. As predicted, cognitively processing the story in parts (paragraphs) rather than as a whole or merely rereading it facilitated solution of the test problem. The pattern of scores was in the expected direction (analogizing and summarizing greater than reading), but a main effect for mode of processing was not determinable from the data. It seems likely that subjects were not adequately skilled in analogizing and summarizing. Implications for instruction are discussed. Instructional strategies that engage the learner in generating summaries and analogies of subcomponents rather than just main ideas tend to facilitate far transfer problem solving. An appendix contains the story and test directions. (Contains 22 references.) (SLD)

The science discourse of young children is a means by which children can pose and try to answer difficult questions about their world. This paper describes through excerpts from transcripts of audiotapes and fieldnotes of science talks, how young children talk about science, and how they use metaphors and analogies to develop theories about difficult scientific concepts. The paper is separated into four sections. The first section establishes a theoretical context for the practice of science talk in the classroom. The second section describes the teaching practice of conducting science talks and discusses the teacher's and student's roles during the discussions. The third section examines an illustrative text on the topic of how nature began. The fourth section concludes that science talk demonstrates that children are capable of devising insightful explanations for difficult questions concerning their world and suggests that teachers need to recover and reexperience this mode of thinking to make it part of the science teaching and learning process. (MDH)

The relative contributions of four individual difference variables to ability to solve analogically related problems in four separate problem sequences and for spontaneous and assisted transfer was examined. Subject were 116 university undergraduates enrolled in an introductory psychology course who volunteered to participate for course credit and 65 high school seniors who volunteered to participate for extra credit from their social studies teacher. Specifically examined was whether combinations of individual difference variables served as significant predictors of problem-solving success in four different source-target problem sequences. For spontaneous transfer, the results indicate that under certain circumstances different combinations of individual difference variables contribute to the ability to predict whether a subject would provide a particular solution to a target problem. For assisted transfer, individual differences do not account for the ability to predict whether a subject would provide a particular solution to a target problem. Results are discussed in terms of why the individual difference variables enhance prediction for spontaneous transfer only under certain circumstances. In addition, suggestions for pursuing this line of inquiry are provided. Four tables present study data. Appendix A contains a logic problem from the study, and Appendix B contains the source and target analogues. (SLD)

This study compared Chinese graduate students in the People's Republic of China (PRC) to Chinese graduate students in the United States (U.S.) in their analogical reasoning skills. Analogical reasoning was used because it requires multidimensional cognitive abilities. Subjects were 40 male and female Chinese graduate students who had graduated from colleges in PRC. Twenty subjects were attending graduate school at the Medical University of South Carolina in the U.S. while 20 were attending graduate school in the PRC. Both schools were medical universities. All 40 subjects took the written "Miller Analogies Test" in Chinese. Each problem was selected for cultural fairness. After a few practice problems, the subjects completed the test of 40 items in an untimed session. Results of the study showed that the students in the PRC performed significantly better than the students in the U.S. on analogical reasoning skills. These differences may be related to the sociocultural challenges that face the students in the U.S. and which may increase anxiety and decrease confidence. Another possible source of difference may be contact with an individualist society and the experience of conflict between collectivist culture and the U.S. individualist culture. (Contains 10 references.) (JB)

Analogies are considered an effective method for providing a bridge between unfamiliar concepts and knowledge that students already have. This paper reports a critical analysis of analogies found in chemistry textbooks used by Australian senior high school students and is presented in three sections. The first section of the paper presents the definition of analogy and discusses different types of analogies, their use in teaching, and potential constraints to their effective use. The second section reports a two-part study of 10 chemistry textbooks. A content analysis: indicated that 93 analogies were found in the 10 textbooks; compared the frequency of analogy use for particular targeted content areas; identified textbook authors' incorporation of instructional strategies that aim to directly assist the student to use analogies to aid understanding; and examined the type of analogies used most frequently in the textbooks. Secondly, interviews were conducted with the authors of 7 of the 10 textbooks to solicit views held by the authors concerning: analogy use; reasons for inclusion or exclusion of analogies; and changes the author would make to a later edition of a textbook. Conclusions reported in the third section indicated that: (1) authors assumed classroom teachers would effectively use the analogies, despite no evidence that teachers have pedagogical content knowledge in this area; (2) the frequency of analogy inclusion implies an unwillingness by authors to use analogies in textbook situations; and (3) the authors are unfamiliar with research guides regarding analogy presentation results. A list of 21 references and an appendix of the textbook titles are provided. (MDH)

A study examined the effects of implicitly embedding short passages explicating information (etymological, analogical, or causal) within a given text on the learning of verbal information. Instructional materials were developed which used two different sequences, one control group receiving filler materials, and three groups receiving one of the different types of explication. A total of 184 undergraduates enrolled in programs in a college of education read text organized into one of two instructional units on the human heart and completed a series of four tests (drawing, identification, terminology, and comprehension) two days later. Results indicated that: (1) treatment groups performed better than the control groups that received filler material on the measures of cued recall and recognition; (2) the analogical and causal treatment group mean scores were significantly higher than the control group mean scores on a drawing test; and (3) students receiving the vocabulary-last sequence performed significantly better than the students receiving the vocabulary-first sequence on drawing and terminology tests. (Contains 26 references.) (RS)

This paper describes a computer-simulation model of the way in which basic reasoning processes develop in children. The model, based on PRISM-II programming language, was designed to reflect the manner in which world knowledge can be used to construct strategies for reasoning. The model learns strategies for performing transitive inference by using knowledge that is acquired through play experiences with sets of objects. Five experiments testing predictions from the model are reported. Experiment 1 tested children's ability to recognize ordered sets, an ability required for the development of transitive inference strategies. Experiments 2 and 3 tested the prediction that children would recognize when the order of a set of objects is indeterminate and found that the ability to make this recognition was present from the age of 7 years. Experiments 4 and 5 assessed strategies children used in a varied set of transitive inference problems, and found no qualitative differences in strategies as a function of age. Six appendices making up almost half the document include the set of productions existing before the model begins operation and lists of productions produced during various problem forms. (Contains 75 references.) (MM)

Recent research literature has highlighted the interest of both teachers and researchers in using analogies to aid students' conceptual understanding. This appears to be especially relevant in secondary chemistry education due to the many abstract concepts that are included in the curricula. This paper reviews recent literature and considers analogy examples from textbooks to identify the advantages and constraints of using analogies to aid the teaching of abstract concepts in secondary chemistry. Particular constraints include: (1) incorrect transfer of attributes; (2) analog unfamiliarity; and (3) stages of cognitive development. (Contains 16 references.) (Author/MDH)

The primary goal of this discussion is to summarize research on the role of expertise in accounting for individual differences in analogical problem solving among college students. The discussion also relates expertise differences to current theorizing in the developmental literature that concerns analogical reasoning in children. Contents focus on the domain of math story problems. Results of three experiments involving undergraduate students that elucidate the role of domain expertise in promoting analogical transfer are reported. It was hypothesized that when a source problem is strucurally analogous to a target problem but shares few, if any, surface features with that problem, spontaneous positive transfer should be higher for experts than for novices. This hypothesis and its converse were tested in two experiments. Results suggested that expertise is important in determining the success of the retrieval component of analogical transfer and that novices have greater difficulty than experts in ignoring misleading surface similarity. A third experiment examined the importance of expertise for executing the post-retrieval processes of mapping and procedure adaptation. It is concluded that age differences in analogical reasoning among children seem to parallel expertise differences among adults. (RH)