Effects from Surface and Structural Similarity in Analogical Transfer in High and Low Familiarity Problems: First Results

Abstract

Two exploratory studies were conducted in order to analyze the level of success in pro-blem-solving transfer processes. Analogies between a «source» problem and different «target» problems were established through their Surface and Structural features. Results showed that when the context of the problems is familiar for students then Surface similarities can hide Structural differences. Howe-ver, when the context of the problems is not familiar for students, the only significant effect came from the equal/different Structures. «Familiarity» with the context of the problems caused a global and systematic effect: non-familiar problems achieved lower success than familiar problems, no matter the relationship between source and target problems.