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Categories of Illustrated Problems for Training Children in Inductive Reasoning

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Abstract

Klauer and Phye’s Cognitive Training for Children (Cognitive training for children: a developmental program of inductive reasoning and problem solving. Hogrefe & Hogrefe Publisher, Kirkland, 1994) provides instruction in inductive reasoning through a sequence of 120 illustrations following a prescribed two-way categorization (a) attributes of objects versus relations between objects, and (b) similarities or differences versus both similarities and differences in attributes or relations. While the program’s effectivity has been established, its prescribed categorization of problems has yet to be validated. If training performance is in accordance with the prescribed categorization, then performance patterns should be more similar for problems in the same than in different categories. In the current research, correlations of performance between problem categories were used as similarity measures in multidimensional scaling. The resulting solution yielded the attribute–relation and similarity–difference dimensions thus showing that performance reflects problem complexity. Visual salience, however, may override problem complexity, as suggested by the finding that the matrix arrangement of objects facilitated training in the algorithmically complex similarity-and-difference problems. The use of everyday-life objects as opposed to abstract objects also was shown to facilitate inductive reasoning.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Colleges of Education and Liberal Arts of De La Salle University and by the Exaltacion C. Ramos Professorial Chair in Tests and Measurement. We acknowledge the contribution of Denise Mitzi Roman, Hazel Joy Marie Ordenes, and Maila Q. Castro in training the participants and of Maria Ruteza A. Bautista in the data management. We thank Allan B. I. Bernardo and Encarnita D. Balayon for the administrative support.

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Author notes

  1. Rajiv K. Amarnani

    Present address: Research School of Management, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, De La Salle University, 2401 Taft Avenue, Manila, 0922, Philippines

    Melissa Lopez Reyes & Rajiv K. Amarnani

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  1. Melissa Lopez Reyes
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  2. Rajiv K. Amarnani
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Correspondence to Melissa Lopez Reyes.

Appendices

Appendix 1

Table 5 Mean percentages of problems solved without help and of problems not solved despite help for boys and girls across problem categories and illustration types (with standard deviation)
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Appendix 2

Table 6 Mean percentages of problems solved without help and of problems not solved despite help for the different ages across problem categories and illustration types (with standard deviation)
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Reyes, M.L., Amarnani, R.K. Categories of Illustrated Problems for Training Children in Inductive Reasoning. Asia-Pacific Edu Res 25, 239–250 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40299-015-0257-y

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