The influence on children`s analogical problem solving of structural highlighting during encoding and retrieval of sources was studied with 379 9-year-old participants. Performance on the first 2 of 4 tests determined the analogical level of each chil...
The influence on children`s analogical problem solving of structural highlighting during encoding and retrieval of sources was studied with 379 9-year-old participants. Performance on the first 2 of 4 tests determined the analogical level of each child. For the remaining 2 tests, the child was assigned to 1 of 12 different structural highlighting conditions, including 4 encoding conditions (reading, line, self-line, and self-explain) and 3 retrieval conditions (reminding, cued, and thematic comparison). Results showed that retrieval conditions, not encoding conditions, improved the analogical ability of the child. Children initially low in analogical ability improved in cued retrieval conditions; children initially high in analogical ability improved both in thematically compared and in cued retrieval conditions. Practical implications of the results were discussed.