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Enhancing Visuospatial Mapping in Relational Category Learning

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Title: Enhancing Visuospatial Mapping in Relational Category Learning
Language: English
Authors: Andrew J. Lee (ORCID 0000-0002-1708-2538), Keith J. Holyoak, Hongjing Lu
Source: Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition. 2026 52(5):744-759.
Availability: American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 16
Publication Date: 2026
Sponsoring Agency: National Science Foundation (NSF), Division of Information and Intelligent Systems (IIS)
Contract Number: 1956441
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Postsecondary Education
Descriptors: Visual Perception, Classification, Maps, Undergraduate Students, Spatial Ability, Serial Ordering
Geographic Terms: California (Los Angeles)
DOI: 10.1037/xlm0001514
ISSN: 0278-7393
1939-1285
Abstract: Visual relational concepts--defined by patterns of relationships between entities--are thought to require structured, compositional representations with explicit role information about each entity. Analogical mapping over compositional representations is a key strategy for acquiring such concepts, but in complex situations with many entities and relations, this process can be cognitively demanding. As a result, learning may occur over feature-based representations, where exemplars are encoded as unstructured lists of entities and relations, losing crucial role information and limiting generalizability. To reduce the cognitive load of analogical mapping, we explored the effectiveness of two visuospatial training aids: (a) spatially organizing exemplars by category to facilitate comparisons and (b) using color coding to highlight the roles of entities within each exemplar. Across three experiments, we examined whether these visuospatial aids improve learning rates on the Synthetic Visual Reasoning Test (SVRT), a collection of 23 problems that require learning relational concepts. Our results showed that displays of previous instances that spatially sorted them into positive and negative sets led to faster concept learning. Learning was faster overall when problems were ordered easy-to-hard rather than randomly, but sorted displays were more effective in either case. Color coding proved beneficial only when colors unambiguously and nonredundantly linked entities that played corresponding roles; when color coding did not support a clear mapping, it interfered with learning. These findings suggest that rapid learning of relational concepts can be facilitated by display characteristics that support analogical mapping by comparisons.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 20260101
Accession Number: EJ1510225
Database: ERIC
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Andrew+J%2E+Lee%22">Andrew J. Lee</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1708-2538">0000-0002-1708-2538</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Keith+J%2E+Holyoak%22">Keith J. Holyoak</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Hongjing+Lu%22">Hongjing Lu</searchLink>
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  Data: American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org
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  Data: Visual relational concepts--defined by patterns of relationships between entities--are thought to require structured, compositional representations with explicit role information about each entity. Analogical mapping over compositional representations is a key strategy for acquiring such concepts, but in complex situations with many entities and relations, this process can be cognitively demanding. As a result, learning may occur over feature-based representations, where exemplars are encoded as unstructured lists of entities and relations, losing crucial role information and limiting generalizability. To reduce the cognitive load of analogical mapping, we explored the effectiveness of two visuospatial training aids: (a) spatially organizing exemplars by category to facilitate comparisons and (b) using color coding to highlight the roles of entities within each exemplar. Across three experiments, we examined whether these visuospatial aids improve learning rates on the Synthetic Visual Reasoning Test (SVRT), a collection of 23 problems that require learning relational concepts. Our results showed that displays of previous instances that spatially sorted them into positive and negative sets led to faster concept learning. Learning was faster overall when problems were ordered easy-to-hard rather than randomly, but sorted displays were more effective in either case. Color coding proved beneficial only when colors unambiguously and nonredundantly linked entities that played corresponding roles; when color coding did not support a clear mapping, it interfered with learning. These findings suggest that rapid learning of relational concepts can be facilitated by display characteristics that support analogical mapping by comparisons.
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      – SubjectFull: Visual Perception
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      – SubjectFull: Classification
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      – SubjectFull: Maps
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      – SubjectFull: Undergraduate Students
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      – SubjectFull: Spatial Ability
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      – SubjectFull: Serial Ordering
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      – SubjectFull: California (Los Angeles)
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