ABSTRACT
The foundational research base for this chapter has been presented in other chapters of this book, in particular, chapter 1. The perspective adopted in the present chapter is that analogical and mathematical reasoning are cognitive processes, which are essential to establishing and organizing conceptual knowledge. There remains, however, a lack of research showing specifically how young children develop these reasoning abilities. The existing research base is limited to a predominantly quantitative research paradigm based on cognitive learning theories that focus on children's completion of tasks constructed by researchers. These tasks have typically been administered in laboratory contexts rather than in more natural classroom contexts. In our review of the literature, we were not able to locate any investigations that used qualitative methodologies to study the development of analogical and mathematical reasoning by young children in classroom settings. That is, little is known about whether or not analogical and mathematical reasoning are present in day-to-day learning in early childhood classrooms.
