{"pk":29849,"title":"Spatial alignment supports comparison of life science visuals for 7th graders","subtitle":null,"abstract":"Visual comparisons are ubiquitous in STEM education. We suggest that visual comparisons are carried out by a structuralalignment process that draws correspondences between analogs based on relational structure (Sagi, Gentner, & Lovett,2012). The spatial arrangement of images can influence visual comparisons by increasing or decreasing competitionfrom incorrect correspondences (Matlen, Gentner, & Franconeri, 2020). The present study tested whether this could beleveraged to help children compare complex STEM-related images. Seventh graders were shown drawings of skeletonscontaining an anomalous bone, either solo or paired with a correct standard. Children were more accurate at finding theanomaly when given a correct standard to compare to. On especially difficult trials in which skeletons were shown innon-canonical orientations (e.g., a cow oriented vertically), performance was enhanced when the spatial placement of thetwo skeletons was direct, minimizing competing correspondences. Thus, direct placement may help students comparecomplex unfamiliar images.","language":"eng","license":{"name":"","short_name":"","text":null,"url":""},"keywords":[],"section":"Poster Session 2","is_remote":true,"remote_url":"https://escholarship.org/uc/item/51d873xs","frozenauthors":[{"first_name":"Nina","middle_name":"","last_name":"Simms","name_suffix":"","institution":"Northwestern University","department":""},{"first_name":"Benjamin","middle_name":"","last_name":"Jee","name_suffix":"","institution":"Worcester State University","department":""},{"first_name":"Bryan","middle_name":"","last_name":"Matlen","name_suffix":"","institution":"WestEd","department":""},{"first_name":"Dedre","middle_name":"","last_name":"Gentner","name_suffix":"","institution":"Northwestern University","department":""}],"date_submitted":null,"date_accepted":null,"date_published":"2020-01-01T18:00:00Z","render_galley":null,"galleys":[{"label":"PDF","type":"pdf","path":"https://journalpub.escholarship.org/cognitivesciencesociety/article/29849/galley/19703/download/"}]}