Spontaneous transfer of relational category structures between category learning tasks: A novel approach to measure analogical transfer.

The ability to spontaneously access knowledge of relational concepts acquired in one domain and apply it to a novel domain has traditionally been explored in the analogy literature via the problem-solving paradigm. In the present work, we propose a novel procedure based on categorisation as a complementary approach to assess spontaneous analogical transfer-using one category learning task to enhance learning of the same underlying category structures in another domain. In Experiment 1, we demonstrate larger improvements in classification performance across blocks of training in a target category learning task among participants that underwent a base category learning task relative to a separate group of participants learning the target category structures for the first time, thus providing evidence for spontaneous transfer of the category structures.

Preventing inert knowledge: Category status promotes spontaneous structure-based retrieval of prior knowledge.

Analogical comparison of 2 provided cases promotes spontaneous analogical transfer by encouraging a more abstract representation of a target principle. This is widely understood as a process of schema abstraction that aids retrieval from memory in the absence of superficial similarity. The category status hypothesis states that if knowledge about a target principle is represented as a relational category, it is easier to activate as a result of categorizing (as opposed to cue-based reminding).