When is it advisable to introduce analogies to foster creativity in education? (¿Cuándo es aconsejable introducir analogías para fomentar la creatividad en la educación?)

ABSTRACT Reasoning by analogy is a form of inductive reasoning that in humans has been linked to fluid intelligence. It is a powerful driver of creativity as it allows us to make inferences in unknown domains by drawing parallels to domains we are familiar with, thus offering safe ground for speculation. Given that some of the most ingenious minds in human history (e.g., Leonardo da Vinci) stand out in their capacity to apply analogies to new fields of knowledge, and because actual scientific breakthroughs have been made based on analogical reasoning, it is reasonable to assume that analogies could be used as a mind-opener which helps students to foster their creativity and innovativeness. The question remains when children are mature enough for analogies to be introduced and profitably used in the classroom. We review how analogical reasoning and working memory develop throughout ontogeny in order to predict when children are sufficiently cognitively mature to benefit from using analogies as a learning tool.