The development of analogical inference is described through the study of 405 children aged 3, 4 and 5 years old, living in poor urban neighborhoods in two Colombian cities - Cali (204) and Santa Marta (201). In order to accomplish the objective, children were asked to individually solve an inference problem based on analogical relations. Independently of their age, children were able to solve the problem using a strategy that requires establishing inference and analogical relations. Nevertheless, a higher percentage of the 5-year-old children tend to use that strategy more often. The results obtained allow the discussion of two conceptions of development: one focused on the age and the other on intra- and inter-individual variability.
Cognitive development; inference; analogical inference; poverty
