Distracted and Misled, Yet Capable of Transfer: Analogical Transfer in 2.5- to 5.5-Year-Olds

Analogical transfer, the ability to generalize a solution onto a seemingly different but functionally similar problem, has the potential to boost individual learning beyond similar-looking situations. However, analogical transfer also involves another ability that is key for efficient learning and may be supported early in education: the ability to disregard irrelevant information in favour of relevant information. Supporting this ability in early childhood education has implications not only for learning but also well-informed participation in the democratic society, which heavily relies on evaluating arguments in terms of their relevance for a given subject. To date, analogical transfer was repeatedly investigated in young children, but their ability to prioritise truly relevant over irrelevant, distracting or misleading, information remains understudied. Therefore, in this study, we tested whether children between 2.5 and 5.5 years (N = 41, ongoing) could transfer relevant information despite irrelevant, distracting or misleading, information. Children participated in a play session at day-care facilities, where they attempted to transfer relevant tool-use knowledge across two analogical problems despite a distracting or a misleading problem solved in between. Preliminary results suggested that children younger than 40 months were not capable of disregarding either type of irrelevant information, and the likelihood of disregarding both distracting and misleading information was the highest in 4.5- to 5.5-year-olds. The data collection is ongoing, and, as measures of world knowledge and executive functions are gathered alongside performance on analogical transfer, the study may inform future interventions focused on relevant cognitive capacities beyond child’s age.