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Individual Differences In Relational Learning And Analogical Reasoning: A Computational Model Of Longitudinal Change, Leonidas A. A. Doumas, Robert G. Morrison, Lindsey E. Richland

Psychology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Children’s cognitive control and knowledge at school entry predict growth rates in analogical reasoning skill over time; however, the mechanisms by which these factors interact and impact learning are unclear. We propose that inhibitory control (IC) is critical for developing both the relational representations necessary to reason and the ability to use these representations in complex problem solving. We evaluate this hypothesis using computational simulations in a model of analogical thinking, Discovery of Relations by Analogy/Learning and Inference with Schemas and Analogy (DORA/LISA; Doumas et al., 2008). Longitudinal data from children who solved geometric analogy problems repeatedly over 6 …