Similarity and the development of rules.
Similarity-based and rule-based accounts of cognition are often portrayed as opposing accounts. In this paper we suggest that in learning and development, the process of comparison can act as a bridge between similarity-based and rule-based processing. We suggest that comparison involves a process of structural alignment and mapping between two representations. This kind of structure-sensitive comparison process--which may be triggered either by experiential or symbolic juxtapositions--has a twofold significance for cognitive development. First, as a learning mechanism, comparison facilitates the grasp of structural commonalities and the abstraction of rules; and, second, as a mechanism for the application and extension of previously acquired knowledge, comparison processes facilitate the application of abstract knowledge to new instances.
Gentner
D
D
Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA. gentner@nwu.edu
Medina
J
J
D000328:Adult; D001245:Association Learning; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003118:Color Perception; D003210:Concept Formation; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D011340:Problem Solving; D012858:Size Perception; D013850:Thinking