The Characteristics And Influencing Factors Of Deaf-mute Students' Analogical Reasoning Capacity

Analogical Reasoning is a core ability of the human being. By means of analogical reasoning, people would be able to reveal the nature and the structure of thought in a much better way. Language is the implement and carrier of thought, which is very important in children's development of belief and reasoning structuring. However, compared to the normal population, the deaf-mute students who lost all or nealy most of the hearing, they have been lacking one kind of important cognitive ability——natural language. And the deaf-mute students have not received enough attention in previous studies. Therefore, the deaf-mute students, as a peculiar group which being short of normal language of human being, are worthy for further study of the development of their analogical reasoning.The present study include two parts: in study one, we conduct a comparative analysis about the characteristics of the development of the analogical reasoning of deaf-mute 45 students and normal 135 students by using the Graphics analogical reasoning , the words and phrases analogical reasoning, and the numerical analogical reasoning. In study two, a 2×3 factorial design is used to examine the relative importance of relevant knowledge experience and the high position relation in deaf-mute student's analogical reasoning ability, and the difference between the deaf-mute student and the normal ones. Results are as follows:Firstly, with the increasing grade, both the deaf-mute students'and the normal students'analogical reasoning ability improve in succession. Though improved, the deaf-mute students'analogical reasoning ability lags behined the normal students'in about five grades.Secondly, as age increased, the development of analogical reasoning ability improve in a systematic way in normal students, but not in the deaf-mute students,. Thirdly, deaf-mute students'performance are best in the graphics analogical reasoning, then in the words and phrases analogical reasoning, and last in the numerical analogical reasoning. For the normal students, they perform best in the words and phrases analogical reasoning, then in the numerical analogical reasoning,and last in graphics analogical reasoning.Fourthly, 62.2% of the deaf-mute students'IQ are below the average level, which is obviously lagging behind the normal ones. Gender difference is not found either in deaf-mute students or normal students'development of analogical reasoning. Significant difference is found between students who wear a hearing aid and those who not. Moreover, students'achievement level have a significant impact on the analogical reasoning capacity of the deaf-mute students. Parents'educational level and the birth place both have a significant impact on the analogical reasoning capacity of the deaf-mute students. IQ also contribute significantly to the deaf-mute students'development of analogical reasoning capacity. Students'achievement levels, parents'educational level, IQ don't have a significant impact on normal students'development of analogical reasoning capacity.Fifthly, with increasing educational level, for the deaf-mute students, the high position relation play a more important role in performance of analogical reasoning task, but for the normal students', relevant knowledge experience are more inmportant. With the same educational level, the high level of relations play a more important role for the deaf-muted students.