The relationship between analogical problem solving and analogical reasoning
Date
2019
Authors
Israel, Nicole
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Abstract
Analogical problem solving occurs when a previously acquired source solution strategy is
retrieved and applied to an isomorphic target problem based on shared structural
correspondences. In addition to being seen as an effective and frequently implemented
heuristic strategy, it also plays a vital role in facilitating creative thinking and learning and is
widely utilised as a key instructional mechanism in a range of teaching contexts. Despite its
clear importance, empirical evidence regarding the links between analogical problem solving
and a range of other factors, including those located within the individual problem solver,
remains limited. This includes the nature of the associations between analogical problem
solving as a heuristic strategy and other forms of reasoning using analogy. As such, there is
a need for further research that serves to clarify and extend conceptual understandings of
these relationships and to identify predictive patterns; this could contribute meaningfully to
both theory development and application. The focus of the current study was thus to explore
the associative and predictive links between analogical problem solving and different forms
of analogical reasoning in the South African context. More specifically, the study examined
solution rates for two different forms of analogical problem solving (directed and open
analogical transfer) as well as the associations between these and verbal and non-verbal
analogical reasoning, heuristic strategy preference (including preference for an analogical
approach), and several demographic variables (gender, home language, type of schooling,
and socioeconomic status). Predictive models with each form of analogical transfer as the
outcome variable were also created. The design of the study was quantitative, nonexperimental,
correlational, and cross-sectional, and the data was collected using a series of
tasks and self-report measures designed to capture the constructs of interest. Following
piloting, a final sample of six-hundred and fifty-eight undergraduate university students was
obtained for the main study. Statistical analyses were used to address the research
questions; these included one-way ANOVAs, t-tests, Chi-squared tests of association, and
logistic regression. The results obtained from the analyses suggested that rates of analogical
transfer in the South African context were slightly lower than those typically observed
internationally; a significant and positive relationship between the two forms of analogical
transfer assessed in the study was also identified. Analogical problem solving was found to
be significantly, positively, and weakly associated with analogical reasoning, and was
unrelated to a preference for utilising analogy as a heuristic strategy. A number of important
distinctions in analogical transfer performance on the basis of the various demographic
variables were also identified. Taken together, these findings provide a unique and novel set
of insights into the phenomenon of analogical problem solving; their implications augment
existing theory and serve as a base for innovative future work in the field.
Description
A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand,
Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy,
July 2019
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Citation
Israel, Nicole (2019) The relationship between analogical problem solving and analogical reasoning, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, <http://hdl.handle.net/10539/29518>