ABSTRACT
Abstract ideas are often grounded in concrete representations such as contextualized examples or visual aids. Relatively subtle aspects of these concrete representations affect how the underlying abstraction is learned and transferred to other domains (DeLoache, 1995; Kotovsky & Gentner, 1996). In a study by Goldstone and Sakamoto (in press), participants showed better understanding of a superficially dissimilar transfer situation when the initial learning situation was presented with idealized drawings rather than concrete pictures. Concreteness seems to bind the abstract concepts more tightly to the domain being learned, thereby making transfer difficult. This study examined how concreteness interacts with analogical mapping and transfer.
