ANALOGIES AS AN AID TO UNDERSTANDING AND MEMORY

Analogies from near and far knowledge domains were presented with three different scientific passages. A no-analogy condition served as a control. Ss who read passages with a distant domain analogy listed more facts in free recall and cued recall tests, and answered correctly more questions that required inferences or comprehension of a novel analogy. Before or after placement of the analogy was a nonsignificant variable. There were no differences between near-domain analogies and the no-analogy control conditions. These results are interpreted as support for the concept of structure mapping as the underlying process in the use of analogies. Results suggest that analogies from far domains promote comprehension of and memory for scientific text.