The relational discovery was investigated with classical Bongard problems. The arrangement of the instances was varied to facilitate the discovery of the correct or wrong relation in the first comparison. Irrelevant to-the-task arousal between the two comparisons of the categories enables the discovery of the relation when the first comparison generates the correct relation. When the wrong relation is highlighted first, arousal slows the overall encoding time. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that attention enhances dominant representation, and highlight the need to reconsider the facilitative role of attention in relational discovery as it is based on multiple comparisons.

Making analogies is considered to depend on executivefunctions. We examined the role of the central executive insolving pictorial cross-mapping problems while generatingrandom digits ranging 1-3 for one group of subjects, and 1-9for another. We used three indices assessing different aspectsof randomness and a self-report measure to evaluate the effectof the concurrent task. Subjects who had to generate digitsbetween 1 and 9 perceived the task to be harder but stillproduced more random sequences than those in the smaller-range condition. Although the manipulation of cognitive loadwas successful, no difference was observed in the proportionof relational responses to the cross-mapping task, suggestingthat analogies may not be as cognitively demanding asotherwise assumed. We also provide correlational support forthe influence of individual differences in fluid intelligence onrelational mapping abilities.

We present evidence for a novel relational luring effect (RLE) in recognition memory. Participants performeda continuous associative recognition task in which they had to discriminate between new, old and recombined word pairs.Participants made more false alarms and responded more slowly to lures (TABLE CLOTH) that were relationally similarto studied pairs (FLOOR CARPET). RTs and false alarms for lures increased linearly as the number of previously studieddifferent exemplars of the relation increased (e.g., 0 to 4 previous exemplars). The RLE effect was stronger for relations thatwere represented by exemplars that were more typical of the relation. These results suggest that semantic relations exist asindependent representations in LTM, and that during associative recognition these representations can be a spurious source offamiliarity. The RLE has implications for models of semantic and episodic memory, unitization in associative recognition,analogical reasoning, and constructive memory research.

How do chess players perceive events in a chess game, as these events unfold in in real-time? The study builds upon the hierarchical bias hypothesis, stating that observers instinctively segment activities in alignment with a partonomic hierarchy. The alignment effect observed in previous research is replicated, while chess experts' outperformed novices. Participants watched chess game videos and identified event boundaries. Data was analysed using discrete, continuous methods, as well as an agreement index. The results aim to deepen our understanding of the cognitive processes involved in chess expertise and event segmentation. They highlight the hierarchical organisation of mental representations in strategic contexts.

Analogical problem-solving involves transfer of knowledge that has been obtained from a source analog and successfully applying it in the solution of a structurally similar target problem. What is usually found in the so-called hint/no-hint paradigm is that spontaneous solution to a problem is hard to achieve. This leaves the possibility for individual differences. This study searched for and found a positive correlation to exist between scores on the Cognitive Reflection Test and spontaneously solved analogical problems which, although a weak one, possibly accounts for the differences that exist between people who need a hint to solve an analogical problem, and people that do not need a hint.