The Effects Of Working Memory And Processing Speed On Analogical Reasoning

This dissertation tends to explore the relationships between analogical reasoning, working memory and processing speed through behavioral experiment, especially focusing on how the components of working memory have influenced analogical reasoning. 303 senior undergraduates participated in the screening test of processing speed. According to their scores, the first 60 subjects and the last 60 subjects were attributed to high and low processing speed group respectively. These subjects were divided into six groups randomly (each group consisted of 10 high and 10 low processing speed subjects). One group (the control group) were asked to complete analogical reasoning only, the others (the experimental ones) were required not only to take analogical reasoning tests (the primary task), but also to complete another task (the secondary task, i.e. tapping, unattended pictures, articulatory suppression, unattended speech, or random interval repetition), which would interfere with individual component of working memory. The results of these experiments indicate that working memory and processing speed are both important factors that will influence analogical reasoning. The spatial component of visuospatial sketchpad, the articulatory component of phonological loop, and the central executive are involved in figural analogies. And for verbal analogies, the spatial component of visuospatial sketchpad has main effect. In addition, the reaction time of the high processing speed subjects is shorter than the low processing speed subjects' significantly, and the former seems to be more sensitive to the interferences from the secondary tasks.