[Do cover stories of mathematical word problems influence analogical transfer in mathematics?]

Abstract

In 3 experiments, we examined the effect of cover stories of mathematical word problems on analogical transfer and its interaction with the problem solvers' mathematical performance. In a first step, the principles for solving mathematical source problems were illustrated with cover stories that were either appropriate or inappropriate for the respective problem's deep structure. Subsequently, participants' performance on a target problem was measured. Results of study 1 showed that analogical transfer was influenced by the source problem's cover story. In the second experiment, this effect was more pronounced for participants with high (versus low) mathematical performance. Using some critical sentences, study 3 provided evidence that the cover stories already influenced the encoding of the target problem. The results are discussed within the framework of content-based accounts of analogical transfer emphasizing the importance of cover stories for understanding the problems' deep structure.