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The case for the prosecution: Transfer as an epiphenomenon
Abstract
a formal definition of transfer is presented, followed by a brief review of what is already known about transfer / [considers] examples of reviews, studies that find transfer, and studies that fail to find transfer
there are two issues that need to be addressed with respect to the relationship between intelligence and transfer / the first . . . is the degree to which far (or general) transfer explains intelligence / the second issue is the degree to which any kind of transfer, either near or far, is central to an understanding of individual differences in mental ability
transfer and education / [examines the role of transfer within two general theories of education, the doctrine of formal discipline and the theory that people learn specific examples] (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
... Performance and changes through transfer behaviours justify training solutions (Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick 2016;Tessmer and Richey 1997). Nevertheless, a persistent challenge known as the transfer problem limits the effectiveness of training programmes across diverse fields (Ceci and Roazzi 1994;Detterman 1993;Grossman and Salas 2011;Park et al. 2023). Only a small portion of newly acquired knowledge and skills successfully transitions to performance contexts (Broad 2005;Detterman 1993;Georgenson 1982;Saks and Belcourt 2006;Wexley and Latham 2002). ...
... Nevertheless, a persistent challenge known as the transfer problem limits the effectiveness of training programmes across diverse fields (Ceci and Roazzi 1994;Detterman 1993;Grossman and Salas 2011;Park et al. 2023). Only a small portion of newly acquired knowledge and skills successfully transitions to performance contexts (Broad 2005;Detterman 1993;Georgenson 1982;Saks and Belcourt 2006;Wexley and Latham 2002). Given HRD's emphasis on training transfer as a focal point (Bhatti, Kaur, and Mohamed Battour 2013), a nuanced understanding of it is critical for HRD professionals to optimise employee performance (Na-Nan and Sanamthong 2020) and training efficiency and Return on Investment (ROI). ...
... With increasing investment in learning in formal education (Barnett and Ceci 2002;De Brey et al. 2021; National Center for Education Statistics 2022) and organisational training (ATD 2019), it is of paramount importance to ensure successful transfer for realising the value of those investments (Barnett and Ceci 2002;Yamnill and McLean 2001). However, the 'transfer problem' persists across fields (Detterman 1993;Saks and Belcourt 2006), posing a longstanding concern for educators, practitioners, and researchers (Lionetti 2012;Pea 1987;Yang and Watson 2022). The determinants of transfer in existing literature primarily focus on training design, work environment, and trainee characteristics, influenced by Baldwin and Kevin Ford's (1988) seminal work. ...
To understand the longstanding issue of low training transfer rates, in this study we explore the understudied role of trainee attitude in an authentic educational training programme comprising participants with diverse international backgrounds. We employed a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design and conceptualised attitude as a multi-dimensional construct (affective, cognitive, behavioural). The multiple regression analysis highlights the significant predictive role of learner attitude, when considering all three dimensions. Spearman's Rank Correlation analysis underscores the significance of each attitu-dinal dimension, with varying significance across dimensions. Qualitatively, the cognitive-transfer link was confirmed while beha-vioural and affective domains had weaker links with transfer according to participants. Additionally, we identified constructs related to individual attitudes and transfer, including motivation, cultural diversity, and multiple situational conditions. Our findings have implications for international audiences and provide recommendations for designing effective training programmes to enhance transfer. ARTICLE HISTORY
... The quest for transfer has inspired more than 100 years of research on this topic since Thorndike and Woodworth's (1901) seminal studies. Transfer is a form of higher-order or meaningful learning (Anderson and Krathwohl, 2001;Bloom, 1956;Mayer, 2002) that involves applying one's prior knowledge or skills in new contexts (Day and Goldstone, 2012;Detterman, 1993;Haskell, 2001;Salomon, 1992, 2012). As outlined in Barnett and Ceci's (2022) taxonomy, transfer can be viewed as a continuum from "near" to "far" transfer along content (i.e., the nature of the learned skill, performance change, and memory demands of the transfer task) and context (i.e., knowledge domain, physical context, temporal context, functional context, social context, and modality) dimensions. ...
... Yet, far transfer is notoriously difficult to attain and has been argued to occur only rarely, whereas near transfer occurs more often (Detterman, 1993;Sala and Gobet, 2017). Successful transfer draws on an interplay of at least three processes: (a) recognizing that previously learned knowledge is relevant to the new context at hand, (b) correctly recalling that knowledge, and (c) effectively applying that knowledge in the new context (Barnett and Ceci, 2002; see also Nokes, 2009;Perkins and Salomon, 2012). ...
... Improving learners' far transfer of knowledge to contexts that are well removed from those in initial learning is an important pedagogical goal that has been considered the "holy grail" of education (Haskell, 2001;McDaniel, 2007), but to achieve it is a challenging feat (Barnett and Ceci, 2002;Detterman, 1993). Focusing on enhancing far transfer along the knowledge domain dimension of Barnett and Ceci's (2002) taxonomy, the present set of three experiments demonstrated that deliberate error commission and correction is an effective learning technique for bringing this goal into fruition. ...
Unlabelled:
Transfer of learning is a fundamental goal of education but is challenging to achieve, especially where far transfer to remote contexts is at stake. How can we improve learners' flexible application of knowledge to distant domains? In a counterintuitive phenomenon termed the derring effect, deliberately committing and correcting errors in low-stakes contexts enhances learning more than avoiding errors. Whereas this benefit has been demonstrated with tests in domains similar to those in the initial learning task, the present set of three experiments (N = 120) investigated whether deliberate erring boosts far transfer of conceptual knowledge to dissimilar domains. Undergraduates studied scientific expository texts either by generating conceptually correct responses or by deliberately generating conceptually erroneous responses then correcting them. Deliberate erring improved not only retention (Experiment 1), but also far transfer on inferential test questions that required applying the learned concepts to remote knowledge domains (e.g., from biology/vaccines to geography/forest management techniques; Experiment 2). This advantage held even over a control that further involved spotting and correcting the same errors that one's peers had deliberately made (Experiment 3). Yet, learners failed to predict or recognize the benefits of deliberate erring even after the test. Altogether, these results suggest that the derring effect is specific to generating incorrect, but not correct, elaborations. Neither does mere exposure to others' errors nor juxtaposing these errors with the correct responses suffice. Rather, guiding learners to personally commit and correct deliberate errors is vital for enhancing generalization and far transfer of learning to distant knowledge domains.
Supplementary information:
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10648-023-09739-z.
... It may be that high MAGO learners had a greater desire to engage in worked examples consistent with a desire to master the materials (see [37,38]), and may view worked examples as the superior learning strategy. Furthermore, the worked-examples strategy of "study a solution to a problem, then solve a similar one", originally devised by Sweller and Cooper [18] for motivational purposes (even though they never tested this assumption), may have a further positive effect on MAGO learners, whereas other formats of worked examples have been successfully used from a learning perspective (see [58]), but they have not been compared from a motivational perspective. Hence, a research avenue could further investigate the link between motivation and a worked-example format. ...
... Previous research [9,10,46] into mastery orientations and worked examples has not included prior-knowledge measures, and therefore the present study extends their research further by including this factor, but also demonstrates how critical it is to include it. The early research into worked examples (see [17]) found that a significant amount of exposure to worked examples was needed to achieve the required automation of fundamental knowledge and skills that lead to transfer effects (see also [58,59]). Hence, a greater intervention period in this study may have been needed to promote transfer. ...
This study aimed to explore the impact of a mastery approach goal orientation (MAGO) on learning from worked examples. In this experiment (N = 98, mean age = 13.9 years), learners had their MAGO measured, and received instruction in mathematics, either through a worked-example or a problem-solving strategy. The study demonstrated that the worked-examples approach resulted in enhanced retention (but not transfer) and decreased cognitive load when compared to the problem-solving approach. However, there was a significant interaction between instructional strategy and the MAGO, indicating that only learners with a high MAGO benefited from worked examples. Learners with higher MAGO levels also experienced less cognitive load than learners with a lower MAGO. These results indicate a moderating role of MGO in enhancing the effectiveness of worked examples. This study also found that prior knowledge was the only factor influencing transfer performance, highlighting the importance of studying its impact.
... Primarily, the meaning of "near transfer", that is, the application of the training content equally to the field, is utilized as the concept of "learning transfer", and empirical research has attempted to identify its predictive variables [13,24]. However, empirical research on far transfer, that is, the application of training content to a wider range of situations, is lacking [35][36][37][38][39]. ...
... This lack of research could be due to the comparative rarity and difficulty of measuring far transfer [36,38,39]. However, compared to the past, the significance of far transfer, that is, the creative application of learning content to various situations, is rapidly increasing [40]. ...
This study examined how learning transfer and its antecedents impacted job competency among geriatric caregivers who underwent dementia training. The dementia training program of the National Health Insurance Service of South Korea was selected for this study. The participants included caregivers who provided care to patients with dementia at 3-12 months post-training. A hierarchical regression analysis was used to verify the research model. The results are summarized as follows: First, transfer opportunity and transfer intention were antecedent variables with a statistically significant positive effect on the near transfer of learning. Second, self-efficacy, the instructor's role, and transfer intention were antecedent variables with a statistically significant positive effect on the far transfer of learning. Third, the near transfer of learning had a statistically significant effect on all six competency variables (communication, problem solving, interpersonal relationships, skills, self-development, and work ethics). Fourth, the far transfer of learning had a statistically significant static effect on all six competency variables, although the size of the influence on competency enhancement was relatively small compared with the near transfer of learning. This study confirmed the effects of various transfer climate-related variables in a training program on job competency, suggesting that the learning transfer of caregivers who underwent dementia training is a significant mediating variable. The limitations of this study and directions for future research are also discussed. The learning transfer of caregivers who underwent this training enhanced their job competencies.
... On one hand some research indicate that there is no transfer and that even if there is, it is rather through manipulation of one sort or the other: subjects are told what to do. Detterman (1993) makes two important conclusions: a) Spontaneous transfer is very rare; b) those studies claiming to show transfer can only be said to have found transfer by the most generous of criteria and would not meet the classical definition of transfer. (ibid: 13-15). ...
... On the other hand, other research findings claim that transfer does occur, such as Novick (1990), Brown and Kane (1988), Gick and Holyoak (1980). Detterman (1993) refutes these claims and makes a strong case against these studies and says: 'The amazing thing about all these studies is not that they do not produce transfer. The surprise is the extent of similarity it is possible to have between two problems without subjects realising that the two situations are identical and require the same solution. ...
Transfer can be defined as ‘the degree to which behaviour will be repeated in a new situation’(Detterman and Sternberg, 1993, p. 4). Thus transfer of learning occurs when learning in one context orwith one set of materials impacts on performance in another context or with related material.Pennington and Rehder (1995) borrowing from Larkin (1989) also define transfer as the use ofknowledge or skill acquired in one situation in the performance of a new, novel task, a task sufficientlynovel that it involves additional learning as well as the use of old knowledge. Research evidence as towhether or not transfer occurs is rather ambivalent. On one hand some research indicate that there isno transfer and that even if there is, it is rather through manipulation of one sort or the other: subjectsare told what to do. Detterman (1993) makes two important conclusions: a) Spontaneous transfer isvery rare; b) those studies claiming to show transfer can only be said to have found transfer by the mostgenerous of criteria and would not meet the classical definition of transfer. (ibid: 13-15).
... This priming effect (from food models) may increase the transfer of learning to new contexts through higher-order thinking and communication skills (Roumell, 2018). Learning transfer requires learners to apply their new knowledge and skills in a different context than the one in which the learning originally took place (Detterman, 1993 breakfast over two days and to assess the visual-textual-lexical representations that they constructed to ...
... In this context, a priming effect through the use of a food model and snack making can help children increase the transfer of learning from school to home through concrete to abstract thinking and communication skills (Roumell, 2018). As such, this type of learning transfer enables students to apply their new knowledge and skills in a different context than the one in which the learning originally took place (Detterman, 1993). Beyond interactive health literacy applications that employ a priming effect for learning transfer, health and nutrition educators can implement new curriculum standards for building stronger connections between how they teach and what they teach. ...
PURPOSE: We had three purposes for this study: 1) to introduce 2nd and 3rd grade children to the concepts of breakfast and food groups in the MyPlate nutrition model while using an interactive constructivist approach; 2) to evaluate what foods children ate for breakfast over two days and to assess the visual-textual-lexical representations that they constructed to show their thinking about the MyPlate food model; and 3) to explore functional health literacy and inventive spellings from children who learned about food groups over two class sessions. METHODS: Pre to post student assessments focused on self-reported breakfast eating and ability to represent the MyPlate food model during the learning process. Student thinking about those topics were also elicited by multimodal approaches: oral language (conversations), written language (visual-textual-lexical illustrations), and body language (making nutritious snacks). For the latter, students constructed a snack to eat on both days at school and were encouraged to make the food at home to model nutritious eating behavior. RESULTS: Most children who participated in the lesson ate breakfast either at home or at school. Some students chose to communicate in words and pictures when asked to write about the foods they ate for breakfast. Many students illustrated and labeled food groups by drawing and using inventive spellings about their early understandings of the MyPlate food model. From the first to the second day of instruction, breakfasts with three food groups increased from 3% to 7% but breakfasts with two food groups declined from 55% to 41% due to more children (n = 60) eating breakfasts with only one food group on the second day. CONCLUSIONS: Some of the food items that students ate were not sufficient to produce an adequate nutritional benefit. The constructivist pedagogical approach assisted children with multimodal ways to communicate their understanding, including making two different snacks when planning a breakfast with multiple food groups. Functional health knowledge about a nutritious breakfast made with three food groups should be further aligned with functional health literacy skills of speaking and writing in multimodal ways in order to improve health behaviors. Inventive spellings demonstrated a developmental step in learning a vocabulary in a new domain. Use of written words and pictures reflected a positive way to learn health and nutrition, because children represented their understanding in more than one way. RECOMMENDATIONS: By adding fruit to the breakfasts of children who participated in the lessons, almost one-half of the children would be able to increase their consumption from two food groups to three food groups when consuming an ideal breakfast. Future work should elaborate on the role of interactive health literacy in school and home contexts when children are learning about breakfast eating and food groups. Future integration of the MyPlate food model with the National Health Education Standards can foster new classroom assessments that will support students to practice observable nutrition behaviors that can lead to consistent health habits for personal, family, and school health.
... Critically, both of these predictions are premised on the assumption that subjects can apply and transfer the knowledge they acquire during training to help them learn and comprehend information that is conceptually related to what they have learned, but which has not been explicitly trained. However, this type of discovery amounts to a relatively challenging form of transfer, which is somewhat rare (Barnett & Ceci, 2002;Detterman, 1993). Furthermore, the literature on transfer-appropriate processing (Morris et al., 1977) suggests that learning should be best for the types of concepts that are specifically trained. ...
... Furthermore, we highlight that all posttest questions involved novel scenarios that were not encountered during training, and thus provide a test of the transfer of learning. That relational and definitional training support the transfer of learning is of critical importance, as it has been a long-standing goal in education to find methods that facilitate this process (Ellis, 1965;Hajian, 2019;National Research Council, 2012), and has thus far proven fairly elusive in the cognitive and learning sciences (Barnett & Ceci, 2002;Detterman, 1993). ...
Many concepts are defined by their relationships to one another. However, instructors might teach these concepts individually, neglecting their interconnections. For instance, students learning about statistical power might learn how to define alpha and beta, but not how they are related. We report two experiments that examine whether there is a benefit to training subjects on relations among concepts. In Experiment 1, all subjects studied material on statistical hypothesis testing, half were subsequently quizzed on relationships among these concepts, and the other half were quizzed on their individual definitions; quizzing was used to highlight the information that was being trained in each condition (i.e., relations or definitions). Experiment 2 also included a mixed training condition that quizzed both relations and definitions, and a control condition that only included study. Subjects were then tested on both types of questions and on three conceptually related question types. In Experiment 1, subjects trained on relations performed numerically better on relational test questions than subjects trained on definitions (nonsignificant trend), whereas definitional test questions showed the reverse pattern; no performance differences were found between the groups on the other question types. In Experiment 2, relational training benefitted performance on relational test questions and on some question types that were not quizzed, whereas definitional training only benefited performance on test questions on the trained definitions. In contrast, mixed training did not aid learning above and beyond studying. Relational training thus seems to facilitate transfer of learning, whereas definitional training seems to produce training specificity effects.
... Elle est devenue une réalité avec l'expansion, toujours en cours, des orientations du NMP (Hyndman & Lapsley, 2016). Certes, le processus de transfert a été considéré à un moment donné comme un épiphénomène, c'est-à-dire un processus cognitif difficile à cerner et à démontrer (Detterman, 1993), mais actuellement, les études montrent qu'il concerne deux grands types d'éléments : (i) les éléments hard tels que les législations, les réglementations, les institutions, les instruments de politiques publiques et les outils de travail et (ii) les éléments soft tels que la culture organisationnelle, les compétences, les principes ou les idées (Stone, 2004). Dans cette perspective, plusieurs chercheurs se sont intéressés au transfert des politiques (Debonneville & Diaz, 2013 ;Hassenteufel & de Maillard, 2013 ;Stone, 2017), à la diffusion des innovations (Rogers, 1995), au transfert des pratiques managériales (Hurt & Hurt, 2005 ;Warski, 2005) en général et des pratiques RH (Barmeyer & Davoine, 2011) en particulier ainsi qu'à la diffusion des pratiques du FBP (Abomo, 2018 ;Gautier et al., 2018). ...
... En effet, la littérature fait état d'une part, de nombreuses études expérimentales qui n'ont pas conclu à l'existence du transfert (Detterman, 1993 ;Reed et al., 1974) ou n'ayant mesuré qu'une faible probabilité qu'un transfert se produise (Gick & Holyoak, 1983. D'autres chercheurs (Brown, 1990 ;Brown & Kane, 1988 ;Gherardi & Nicolini, 2000 ;Pennington et al., 1995) indiquent que le transfert est un processus existant dans les faits. ...
Le transfert constitue un phénomène contemporain hérité de la propagation continue des idées du Nouveau Management Public et de la diffusion des innovations ; deux courants théoriques qui concourent à la convergence du management public-privé. Ce processus concernant aussi bien les politiques publiques que les pratiques managériales, s’est accéléré ces dernières années dans le cadre de nombreuses mutations engagées dans les services publics de plusieurs pays. Dans cette perspective, les pratiques du Financement Basé sur la Performance (FBP) sont transférées dans un contexte caractérisé par la quête permanente de la performance dans les systèmes de santé, plus particulièrement en Afrique. A cet effet, la littérature converge sur le rôle essentiel joué par les acteurs intervenants dans le transfert de ces pratiques. Pourtant, peu d’attention a été accordée aux interactions des acteurs dans ce processus qui constitue actuellement un phénomène complexe nécessitant des études en contexte et en profondeur. En se basant sur l’étude de cas du transfert des pratiques du FBP au sein du Système de Santé du Burundi (SSB), cette recherche mobilise le champ théorique des relations sociales pour explorer le rôle des interactions des acteurs intervenants dans le déploiement de ce processus. D’une part, les résultats montrent que les facteurs politique, économique, social, technologique, environnemental et légal interviennent dans la constitution des interactions entre les acteurs du transfert du FBP. D’autre part, il s’avère que ces interactions peuvent être coopératives, coercitives, sélectives et progressives. Notre raisonnement aboutit à la formulation de propositions théoriques qui résument, dans un modèle conceptuel, le rôle joué par les interactions des acteurs dans le déploiement du transfert des pratiques du FBP.
... Ein übergeordnetes Ziel jeglichen (Physik-)Unterrichts ist, dass Schüler*innen ihr darin erworbenes Wissen auch außerhalb der Schule anwenden können (Day und Goldstone 2012). Dieser Transfer gelingt aber seltener als erhofft (Detterman 1993), zumindest wenn Transfer im Sinne einer als klassisch oder traditionell bezeichneten Transfertheorie betrachtet wird. Diese geht davon aus, dass Transfer, sprich die Anwendung von Wissen in einem neuen Kontext, entweder erfolgreich ist oder nicht. ...
Zusammenfassung
Die Fähigkeit der Anwendung von im Unterricht gelernten Konzepten ist ein grundlegendes Ziel des Physikunterrichts. Beim Transfer ihres Wissens wenden Schüler*innen Strategien an. Die vorgestellte Studie hat zum Ziel, affektive Faktoren wie das situationale Interesse und die Kontextorientierung im vorangegangenen Unterricht in Zusammenhang mit der Anwendung von Transferstrategien beim Transfer von physikalischen Konzepten aus dem Themenbereich der Energie zu untersuchen. Weiter wird der Einsatz von Transferstrategien beim Lösen einer physikalischen Transferaufgabe von Lernenden in unterschiedlichen Schulstufen und Schulniveaus verglichen. Es zeigt sich, dass sich beim Vergleich zwischen den Schulniveaus keine nennenswerten Unterschiede bei der Anwendung von Transferstrategien ergeben. Hinsichtlich der Schulstufen sind lediglich vereinzelte Unterschiede bei zwei der fünf Transferstrategien signifikant. Ein Strukturgleichungsmodell zur Modellierung der Zusammenhänge des Interesses, der Kontextorientierung und der Nutzung von Transferstrategien macht darüber hinaus jedoch sichtbar, dass die wahrgenommene Kontextorientierung im Unterricht in vier von fünf Fällen einen positiven Effekt auf die Nutzung von Transferstrategien aufweist (namentlich auf die Strategien Einnehmen einer Subjektperspektive, Analogien Schule, Analogien Freizeit und Schlüsse ziehen ). Weiter konnte der aus der Literatur bekannte positive Effekt der Kontextorientierung auf das (situationale) Interesse repliziert werden. Das situationale Interesse wiederum hat keinen direkten Zusammenhang mit vier der fünf Transferstrategien und weist sogar eine negative Korrelation (Kovarianz) mit der Strategie Nachdenken über den Lösungsprozess auf.
... A chemistry course may not support student's transfer of EAP skills due to a lack of opportunities to use them. Transfer climate has been researched extensively in educational psychology (Perkins & Salomon, 1992, 1994Fogarty et al., 1992;Haskell, 2001;Detterman, 1993) and workplace training research (Lim & Johnson, 2002;Tracey & Tannenbaum, 1995;Gilpin-Jackson & Bushe, 2007;Martin, 2010). However, in the EAP context, James (2010) is the only study in which the transfer climate was explicitly adopted. ...
This study examines the nature of the transfer climate in an English for academic purposes (EAP) education setting specifically from the perspectives of EAP instructors. The transfer climate refers to the nature of the target context of instruction and the support for learning transfer perceived by a learner in that target context. Therefore, in the case of the EAP education context, the target context of instruction is the discipline courses to which students transition to or take concurrently with EAP courses. These discipline courses may be supportive or unsupportive towards students' transfer of EAP skills. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 EAP instructors. The interview transcripts were analyzed using a process of de-contextualizing and re-contextualizing. Firstly, with decontextualizing, a chunk of text is identified as a unit of analysis and is taken out of context from the transcript. Secondly, all the units can be re-contextualized when transferred from the interview transcript to a single category of units that contribute to a similar pattern towards the research question. The findings revealed that EAP instructors perceived both supportive and unsupportive aspects of different components of the EAP transfer climate [opportunities (lack of) in the course structure, support (lack of) for EAP transfer from discipline instructors or peers in the disciplines]. This study’s findings also build on existing conceptualizations of transfer climate. Practical implications, implications for future research, and limitations are outlined.
... Some researchers have argued that far transfer is a vanishly rare phenomenon (e.g., Detterman, 1993), and there is evidence from meta-analytic studies (e.g., Sala & Gobet, 2017) to suggest that far transfer may occur infrequently in the course of children's development. Whether arts education is an exception to this rule remains a subject of active debate. ...
... Most educators would like for their students to be able to transfer knowledge they have learned to new contexts or problems (Bransford & Schwartz, 1999;Haskell, 2001;McKeough et al., 1995;Perkins & Salomon, 1992), but this has often proven difficult to achieve (Detterman, 1993;Renkl et al., 1996). Here, we show in the domain of mathematics that guiding learners to deliberately commit and correct procedural errors during problem-solving practice after instruction enhances transfer of learned procedures. ...
How can students effectively learn and transfer mathematical procedures to solve new problems? Here, we tested the effects of deliberately committing and correcting errors during mathematical problem-solving practice on transfer of the learned procedures. In two experiments, university students were instructed on mathematical algorithms (synthetic division and matrix multiplication) and solved practice problems during open-book study. Learners were then tested on flexibly adapting the algorithms to solve novel problems that were structurally more complex or embedded in “real-life” scenarios (i.e., mathematical word problems). Deliberately committing and correcting procedural errors during problem-solving practice yielded better transfer than errorless repeated practice (Experiment 1) or studying incorrect worked examples by finding, explaining, and correcting the errors that one’s peers had made (Experiment 2). Yet, most learners failed to accurately predict or recognize the advantage of deliberate erring even after the test, instead misjudging this technique as less effective. This suggests that experiencing the benefit of deliberate erring is insufficient to dispel learners’ metacognitive illusion that generating errors is not helpful for their learning. Overall, our results point to the critical role of first-hand errors in mathematical learning. Relative to avoiding errors or even studying others’ errors and juxtaposing them with the correct solutions, guiding learners to deliberately commit and correct their own errors after instruction improves mathematical problem solving and transfer.
... For some, namely those in secondary or higher education, part of the educator's work is then ensuring their students learn about the most relevant science of learning principles and fostering student transfer of the principles to the students' own studying. Transfer of knowledge is notoriously difficult to achieve (Detterman, 1993). Still, it is somewhat ironic that science of learning scholars have, as Rowe & Hattie (2023) aptly put it, "missed the mark when it comes to educating educators" (p. ...
The science of learning literature is filled with recommendations for strategies educators can use to increase effective and efficient learning. However, some believe that implementation has not been as robust as many have hoped. We believe more effective science communication is needed to increase the overall impact of science of learning research in education, but more data on the most effective ways to accomplish this are needed. Our efforts to increase science communication with educators have included workshops, and from our experiences three concerns regarding the implementation of retrieval practice in particular seem to consistently arise during our workshop conversations with educators. These concerns include the time or workload associated with planning, enacting, and evaluating retrieval practice activities, that retrieval practice might be only useful for learning basic knowledge, and that retrieval practice might cause test anxiety among students. While these concerns could be considered roadblocks to implementation efforts, we have viewed them as speed bumps, opportunities to slow down and discuss some of the nuances of retrieval practice research that can serve to address the concerns. In this commentary, we describe the ways we have attempted to leverage existing literature to address these concerns so far. Importantly, we call for formal research investigating implementation reform of retrieval practice. For science of learning research to have a greater impact on education, the field must systematically identify the concerns of educators in applying the research, and systematically evaluate effective ways to communicate the science to overcome these concerns.
... Explicit training in the SR processes and strategies following a metacognitive approach was essential for the participating students to learn how to apply SR to school and other contexts and domains (at least those familiar to students, such as making the bed and sports). According to the literature, these are requirements for occurring knowledge transfer [72][73][74]. ...
Self-regulated learning contributes to students’ academic success and their future as citizens. However, self-regulation skills are seldom or poorly promoted during instruction. To address this gap, the current article reports data on the implementation of an evidence-based intervention (i.e., a narrative-based intervention called “Yellow Trials and Tribulations”) in a disadvantaged school neighborhood. Prior studies showed positive results of this intervention in promoting elementary students’ self-regulation skills. Still, the data are mainly quantitative and limited to students’ reports or classroom observations made by researchers. Hence, the current study aimed to explore the implementers’ and observers’ perceptions of the impact of the intervention. Four elementary teachers implemented the intervention in their fourth-grade classes (N = 96 students). For each session, the implementers and observers completed a session sheet collaboratively, as well as individual final reports at the end of the intervention. The records were analyzed through a direct content analysis. The data indicated a perceived increase in knowledge and the use of self-regulation skills in the educational context and in daily life routines. Moreover, the data allowed for the identification of other positive gains of the intervention. The findings extended prior research while helping researchers to further understand the impact of the narrative-based intervention. The implications for research and educational practice are provided.
... One key aspect of CBL is the application of knowledge and skills to real-world situations. Research suggests that when learners can transfer their learning to different contexts, it enhances retention (Detterman, 1993). By engaging in CBL, students acquire a deeper understanding of concepts, allowing them to apply their knowledge flexibly and retain it in a more robust manner. ...
The meta-analysis focuses on examining the effects of context-based learning on students' academic achievement and learning retention. A comprehensive search of the available research literature identified a total of 42 studies addressing academic achievement and 10 studies investigating learning retention. The findings of the analysis indicated that context-based learning had a statistically significant positive impact on both academic achievement (g=0.970) and learning retention (g=0.791) when compared to teacher-led instruction. These results were obtained using the random-effects model. To ensure the robustness of the findings, an assessment for publication bias was conducted. The analysis suggested that the observed effects were not influenced by publication bias. However, it is important to note that there was a notable variability in effect sizes across the included studies. To explore potential factors contributing to this heterogeneity, moderator analysis was performed on five possible moderator variables. The results of moderator analysis revealed that the impact of context-based learning on academic achievement was only moderated by group size. Specifically, studies with fewer than 50 participants demonstrated a strong effect (g=1.116), as did studies with 50-100 participants (g=1.096). On the other hand, studies with more than 100 participants exhibited a modest effect (g=0.498). These findings suggest that group size plays a role in moderating the effects of context-based learning on academic achievement. It implies that smaller groups may provide a more conducive environment for implementing context-based learning approaches, resulting in stronger effects compared to larger groups.
... One example, and the focus of this manuscript, is the illusion of explanatory depth. inconsistent with the dearth of robust far-transfer effects in which a person's training in one area, such as chess, supposedly increases their capabilities in other areas, like working memory or concentration (Detterman, 1993;Kassai et al., 2019;Sala & Gobet, 2017;cf. Bart, 2014). ...
People often overestimate their understanding of how things work. For instance, people believe that they can explain even ordinary phenomena such as the operation of zippers and speedometers in greater depth than they really can. This is called the illusion of explanatory depth. Fortunately, a person can expose the illusion by attempting to generate a causal explanation for how the phenomenon operates (e.g., how a zipper works). This might be because explanation makes salient the gaps in a person’s knowledge of that phenomenon. However, recent evidence suggests that people might be able to expose the illusion by instead explaining a different phenomenon. Across three preregistered experiments, we tested whether the process of explaining one phenomenon (e.g., how a zipper works) would lead someone to report knowing less about a completely different phenomenon (e.g., how snow forms). In each experiment, we found that attempting to explain one phenomenon led participants to report knowing less about various phenomena. For example, participants reported knowing less about how snow forms after attempting to explain how a zipper works. We discuss alternative accounts of the illusion of explanatory depth that might better fit our results. We also consider the utility of explanation as an indirect, non-confrontational debiasing method in which a person generalizes a feeling of ignorance about one phenomenon to their knowledge base more generally.
... However, many other studies have argued that transfer rarely occurs, particularly to the target domain that educators most wish to affect [28]. Multiple recent review articles about the transfer of learning [24,29] have concluded that transfer is both ubiquitous and rare. ...
The transfer of learning is arguably the most enduring goal of education. The history of science reveals that although numerous theories have been transferred from the natural sciences to the socio-political realm, educational practitioners have often deemed such transfers romantic and rhetorical. We conducted an experiment that randomly assigned a sample of 292 college freshmen in China to two groups to learn different thermodynamic theories: entropy or self-organization theory. We examined whether the two groups may arrive at different implications about social (and government) control without explicit instructions. We found that participants who learned the theory of entropy were more likely to believe the social system would become chaotic over time without external control; thus, they preferred tightened social control. Whereas participants who learned self-organisation theory were more likely to believe that order may form from within a social system; therefore, they downplay external control and prefer stronger individual agency. Follow-up interviews showed that the participants’ narratives about social control were largely consistent with the thermodynamic concepts they had learned. Our findings have critical implications for the recent trend in STEM education that promotes the teaching of cross-cutting concepts—seeking patterns from interdisciplinary ideas—that may implicitly prime students to borrow physical science theories to formulate personal social hypotheses and engage in moral–civic–political discourse.
... Many scholars within both the cognitive and participationist perspectives have emphasized that successful transfer of learning is often difcult to achieve (Detterman, 1993;Lobato, 2012). For example, learners who can successfully ofer a natural selection explanation for the acquisition of anatomical features of animals may be unable to explain the loss of features or any changes at all in plants (Nehm & Schonfeld, 2008). ...
... Näitä ovat lähitransfer tietojen siirtona identtisiin ja kaukainen transfer erilaisiin tilanteisiin. Samoin erotetaan spesifi ja yleinen transfer (Gick & Holyoak 1993), pintarakenteiden ja syvärakenteiden transfer (Detterman 1993) ja vielä aktiivinen transfer (high road) ja passiivinen transfer (low road) (Perkins ja Salomon 1987). Kaikissa näissä on kuitenkin takana skeeman käsite, johon tiedon siirtyminen tehtävästä tai tilanteesta toiseen perustuu. ...
Transferissa on kysymys siitä, miten hyvin yksilö pystyy hyödyntämään yhdessä tehtävässä tai tilanteessa oppimaansa tietoa tai osaamista uudessa tilanteessa. Tässä artikkelissa käsitettä on kehitelty pidemmälle, tarjoamaan välineitä muuttuvien tietojen ongelmaan ja muuttuvien tilanteiden kohtaamiseen.
... A great deal of research has been conducted to explore the nature of learning transfer (e.g., Barnett & Ceci, 2002;Beech, 1999;Butler, Godbole, & Marsh, 2013;Detterman, 1993;Foley & Kaiser, 2013;MacRae & Skinner, 2011), but with the increasing knowledge about how and why learning transfer occurs or not, new questions and topics also keep emerging in this area (Day & Goldstone, 2012;Larsen-Freeman, 2013). Recently, more and more studies have been carried out on learning transfer with regard to academic literacy in higher education (Baik & Greig, 2009), but only a small number of them are pertinent to international and multilingual students' learning of advanced academic language in classrooms across the disciplines. ...
Learning transfer with regard to academic literacy in higher education has drawn more and more researchers’ attention in recent years (Baik & Greig, 2009). However, only a small number of transfer studies are pertinent to international and multilingual students or second language (L2) writing instruction. Situated in the area of English for Academic Purposes (EAP), this research investigates international and multilingual undergraduate students’ writing practice and development within and across the disciplines. Specifically, it looks into six Chinese international students’ learning transfer from their First-Year Writing (FYW) course to disciplinary writing in the college years. Drawing upon the theoretical framework of adaptive transfer proposed by Depalma and Ringer (2011), this study redefines transfer in L2 writing and expands the research scope of transfer studies. It examines writing transfer from a new vantage point by including writers’ creative and/or strategic transformation of learned knowledge. Using the case study methodology, this research documents detailed processes of how international and multilingual undergraduate students adapt and transform prior writing knowledge and experiences to construct discipline-specific literacy. The findings have captured a series of writing practices cutting across those students’ approach to language, rhetoric, and genre and identified the factors that contextualize their writing practices.
... These perspectives are summarized below in Table 1. A detailed review of each perspective is beyond the scope of this paper though comprehensive accounts be found elsewhere (Day & Goldstone, 2012;Detterman, 1993). ...
Ensuring trainees develop the flexibility with their knowledge to address novel problems, and to efficiently build upon prior knowledge to learn new knowledge is a common goal in health profession education. How trainees come to develop this capacity to transfer and transform knowledge across contexts can be described by adaptive expertise, which focuses on the ability of some experts to innovate upon their existing knowledge to develop novel solutions to novel problems. While adaptive expertise is often presented as an alternative framework to more traditional cognitivist and constructivist expertise models, it is unclear whether the non-routine and routine forms of transfer it describes are distinct from those described by other accounts of transfer. Furthermore, whether what (e.g., knowledge) is transferred and how (e.g., cognitive processes) differs between these views is still debated. In this review, we describe various theories of transfer and present a synthesis clarifying the relationship between transfer and adaptive expertise. Informed by our analysis, we argue that the mechanisms of transfer in adaptive expertise share important commonalities with traditional accounts of transfer, which when understood, can complement efforts by educators and researchers to foster and study adaptive expertise. We present three instructional principles that may better support transfer and adaptive expertise in trainees: i) identifying and incorporating meaningful variability in practice, ii) integrating conceptual knowledge during practice iii) using assessments of trainees’ transfer. Taken together, we offer an integrative perspective to how educational systems and experiences can be designed to develop and encourage adaptive expertise and transfer.
... In this case, the heuristics may be the knowledge that all problems in the set have shortcuts; that it is necessary to look for a "second bottom" in the problem; and that it is necessary to read the problem conditions more carefully or not pay attention to numerical values because calculations do not help to find the answer. The result contradicts the data about the impossibility of spontaneous solution transfer between two problems (Barnett and Ceci 2002;Day and Goldstone 2011;Detterman 1993), because it shows that problems begin to be solved more and more efficiently in terms of solution time. The contradiction may be due to the fact that a typical transfer study is based on a comparison of two isomorphic problems, but in this case, a longer problem set was used. ...
Insight problems—as a type of ill-defined problems—are often solved without an articulate plan, and finding their solution is accompanied by the Aha! experience (positive feeling from suddenly finding a solution). However, the solution of such problems can also be guided, for example, by expectations in terms of criteria for achieving the goal. We hypothesize that adjusting the expectation accuracy based on the reward prediction error (discrepancy between the reward and its prediction) affects the strength of affective components of the Aha! experience (pleasure and surprise), allowing to learn how to solve similar problems. We manipulated expectation accuracy by varying the similarity in problem solution principle and structure in a short learning set. Each set was followed by a critical problem where both the structure and solution principle were changed (except for control set). Subjective feelings, solution time, and expectation were measured after each problem. The results revealed that problems with similarities become more expected at the end of the set and their solution time is decreased. However, the critical problem featured a rapid increase in pleasure and surprise and decrease in expectedness only in the condition where both the solution principle and structure were expected, suggesting that problem structure is a key feature determining expectedness in insight problem solving. The Aha! experience is not an epiphenomenon; it plays a role in learning of problem solving through adjusting expectations.
... For example, after failing to explain how a zipper works, we would expect an individual to question their knowledge of zippers but not their knowledge of natural events (and vice versa). This assumption is consistent with the dearth of robust far-transfer effects in which an individual's training in one area, such as chess, supposedly increases their capabilities in other areas, like working memory or concentration (Detterman, 1993;Kassai et al., 2019;Sala & Gobet, 2017;cf. Bart, 2014). ...
People often overestimate their understanding of how things work. For instance, people believe they can explain even ordinary phenomena such as the operation of zippers and speedometers in greater depth than they really can. This is called the illusion of explanatory depth. Fortunately, a person can expose the illusion by attempting to generate a causal explanation for how the phenomenon operates (e.g., how a zipper works). Researchers have assumed for two decades that explanation exposes the illusion because explanation makes salient the gaps in a person’s knowledge of that phenomenon. However, recent evidence suggests that people might be able to expose the illusion by instead explaining a different phenomenon. If true, this would challenge our fundamental understanding of how the illusion works. Across three preregistered studies we tested whether the process of explaining one phenomenon (e.g., how a zipper works) would lead someone to report knowing less about a completely different phenomenon (e.g., how snow forms). In each study we found that explaining led people to report knowing less about various phenomena, regardless of what was explained. For example, people reported knowing less about how snow forms after attempting to explain how a zipper works. We discuss alternative accounts of the illusion of explanatory depth that might better fit our results. We also consider the utility of explanation as an indirect, non-confrontational debiasing method in which a person generalizes a feeling of ignorance about one phenomenon to their knowledge base more generally.
... For example, more than 100 years ago, Woodworth and Thorndike (9) showed that after extensive training on judging the area of a rectangle, human participants showed no improvement at judging the area of other shapes. This graded dependence on transfer distance makes it hard to make concrete claims about whether humans are adept at dealing with novelty and has ultimately led to pessimistic claims that far transfer-moments of extrapolative insight that link entirely distinct problems-are vanishingly rare (10). ...
Generalization (or transfer) is the ability to repurpose knowledge in novel settings. It is often asserted that generalization is an important ingredient of human intelligence, but its extent, nature, and determinants have proved controversial. Here, we examine this ability with a paradigm that formalizes the transfer learning problem as one of recomposing existing functions to solve unseen problems. We find that people can generalize compositionally in ways that are elusive for standard neural networks and that human generalization benefits from training regimes in which items are axis aligned and temporally correlated. We describe a neural network model based around a Hebbian gating process that can capture how human generalization benefits from different training curricula. We additionally find that adult humans tend to learn composable functions asynchronously, exhibiting discontinuities in learning that resemble those seen in child development.
... The past century of research on human learning has produced ample evidence that although learners can improve at almost any task, such improvements are often specific to the trained task, with unreliable or even nonexistent transfer to novel tasks or conditions (Barnett & Ceci, 2002;Detterman, 1993). Such transfer challenges are of noteworthy practical relevance, given that educators, trainers, and rehabilitators typically intend for their students to be able to apply what they have learned to new situations. ...
Exposing learners to variability during training has been demonstrated to improve performance in subsequent transfer testing. Such variability benefits are often accounted for by assuming that learners are developing some general task schema or structure. However much of this research has neglected to account for differences in similarity between varied and constant training conditions. In a between-groups manipulation, we trained participants on a simple projectile launching task, with either varied or constant conditions. We replicate previous findings showing a transfer advantage of varied over constant training. Furthermore, we show that a standard similarity model is insufficient to account for the benefits of variation, but, if the model is adjusted to assume that varied learners are tuned towards a broader generalization gradient, then a similarity-based model is sufficient to explain the observed benefits of variation. Our results therefore suggest that some variability benefits can be accommodated within instance-based models without positing the learning of some schemata or structure.
... In fact, they were predictable. Over the years, it has been difficult to document far transfer in experiments (Singley & Anderson, 1989;Thorndike & Woodworth, 1901), industrial psychology (Baldwin & Ford, 1988), education (Gurtner et al., 1990), as well as in research on analogy (Gick & Holyoak, 1983), intelligence (Detterman, 1993), and expertise (Bilalić et al., 2010). Indeed, theories of expertise emphasize that learning is domain specific (Ericsson & Charness, 1994;Gobet & Simon, 1996;Simon & Chase, 1973). ...
Considerable research has been carried out in the last two decades on the putative benefits of cognitive training on cognitive function and academic achievement. Recent metaanalyses summarising the extent empirical evidence have resolved the apparent lack of consensus in the field and led to a crystal-clear conclusion: the overall effect of far transfer is null, and there is little to no true variability between the types of cognitive training. Despite these conclusions, the field has maintained an unrealistic optimism about the cognitive and academic benefits of cognitive training, as exemplified by a recent article (Green et al., 2019). We demonstrate that this optimism is due to the field neglecting the results of meta-analyses and largely ignoring the statistical explanation that apparent effects are due to a combination of sampling errors and other artifacts. We discuss recommendations for improving cognitive training research, focusing on making results publicly available, using computer modelling, and understanding participants’ knowledge and strategies. Given that the available empirical evidence on cognitive training and other fields of research suggests that the likelihood of finding reliable and robust far-transfer effects is low, research efforts should be redirected to near transfer or other methods for improving cognition.
... Because deep understanding of complex systems requires learners to be able to understand and apply complex systems concepts across multiple scenarios or systems (e.g., Detterman, 1993;Gick & Holyoak, 1980;National Research Council, 2000), explicitly teaching students about the ontologies of complex systems and phenomena through participatory simulations, students might be able to learn to interpret complex systems according to underlying principles and use these for navigating subsequent encounters with other systems (e.g., Hoehn & Finkelstein, 2018;Slotta & Chi, 2006). ...
Most of humanity’s important and difficult problems such as pandemics, environmental health, and social unrest require recognizing and understanding complex systems. Students often have difficulty understanding complex systems concepts and previous research indicates that scaffolded computer simulations may facilitate learning. Few studies, however, have investigated which types of scaffolding can help students understand complex systems concepts with simulations. This study compares ontological and self-monitoring scaffolds with an agent-based participatory simulation on mainly undergraduate students’ (N = 96) understanding of complex systems. Data sources included pretest and posttest assessments of complex systems concepts. Results revealed that students in the ontological condition significantly improved from pretest to posttest on their agent actions and processes-based causality understanding, while apparently decreasing their understanding in action effects. In addition, students in the ontological condition improved more from pre- to post-test than students in the self-monitoring condition in their understanding of order. This study highlights how scaffolded, agent-based participatory simulations can help students learn complex systems concepts and that ontological scaffolding may help students understand decentralized and emergent order within complex systems.
... Research has shown that near or horizontal transfer, or transfer to a similar situation, is relatively easy for learners once they have mastered the requisite skills and knowledge (Day & Goldstone, 2012). However, far or vertical transfer, in which the individual attempts to apply skills and knowledge to a new and unfamiliar situation, may cause challenges and require more scaffolding along the way as a learner may not be able to see immediate connection between what has been learnt and how to apply it in a seemingly completely different situation (Barnett & Ceci, 2002;Detterman, 1993; National Academies of Science, 2018). Barriers to learning transfer, especially across domains, can be encountered before (e.g., lack of foundational knowledge), during (e.g., lack of motivation or confidence in being able to master a topic), or even after the learning situation (e.g., lack of support afterward) (Foley & Kaiser, 2013;Thomas, 2007). ...
Many people enter higher education without the skills to be fully independent lifelong learners, especially on topical areas they are not very familiar with. Heutagogy, the study of self-determined learning, focuses on the development of “capable learners” who have the ability, competence, and self-efficacy to learn on their own. Heutagogy builds on the theory of double-loop learning, in which learners adjust their beliefs and values based on experience with tackling new problems. However, it is difficult to transfer learning to new circumstances and contexts, and even proficient self-determined learners may struggle in new domains, when familiar learning strategies may not be sufficient to develop new skills. In this chapter, we discuss the concept of triple-loop learning, in which people learn how to learn in new ways as they encounter new domains. We present illustrative examples based on thought experiments about learners across the spectrum of actual ability and self-efficacy in a new domain and discuss how educators might assist learners to become capable learners in their new domains.
... The concept of transfer, commonly defined as the application of prior knowledge from one situation to another (e.g., Foertsch, 1995;Perkins & Salomon, 1994), has a long and deep history in education and educational psychology (Detterman, 1993). For more than two decades, it has filtered through many of the discussions related to first language (L1) compositional studies, second language (L2) writing, and genre-based teaching and learning (e.g., Fishman & Reiff, 2008, 2011James, 2014;Wardle, 2007Wardle, , 2009). ...
This paper revisited the issue of transfer in an unexplored context: the transition from instruction-based writing to the bachelor’s theses by English-major students in one university in China. To explore the extent to which the writing instruction prepared the students for thesis writing practice, we created two corpora of student writing: 591 assignments produced by 40 students in 3 writing-related courses offered in the curriculum and 40 bachelor’s theses produced between 2014–2018. Based on the taxonomy of elemental genres in the Systemic Functional Linguistics, we compared the genre distribution in the two corpora via log-likelihood tests. Results revealed that two patterns of continuity and two patterns of discontinuity existed in the students’ literacy journey. Also, framed within the theory of adaptive transfer, a focus-group interview was conducted with four thesis writers in an attempt to trace their transfer of rhetorical knowledge between the two rhetorical contexts. Findings demonstrated that the students consciously reused and reshaped a pool of rhetorical knowledge acquired from the writing courses to navigate the complex task of thesis writing. This paper then concludes with implications for L2 writing research, curriculum, and pedagogy.
Der Begriff des Transfers kennt sowohl in der Fachdidaktik der Physik als auch in der Psychologie viele Facetten. Unterschieden werden unter anderem traditionelle von modernen Ansätzen, wobei bei letzteren das Individuum, das einen Transfer ausführt, im Zentrum der Betrachtung steht. Das Ziel der vorliegenden Promotionsarbeit ist die Untersuchung und Beschreibung von Prozessen, die beim Transfer von physikalischen Konzepten aus dem Themenbereich Energie ablaufen. Dabei stehen die Strategien, die Lernende beim Lösen von Transferaufgaben anwenden, im Vordergrund. In einem ersten Schritt werden Transferprozesse im Rahmen einer qualitativen Laut-Denken-Interviewstudie (N=20) analysiert. Ein daraus entwickeltes Framework zur Analyse und Kategorisierung von Transferprozessen und -strategien bildet die Grundlage für die Erstellung eines Messinstruments zur Erfassung von Transferstrategien. In einer Pilotierung (N=120) lösen Proband*innen einige Wochen nach der Behandlung des Themas Energie im regulären Unterricht eine Transferaufgabe zu ebendiesem Thema und geben anschließend in einem Selbsteinschätzungsfragebogen (Messinstrument) Auskunft über die Nutzung von verschiedenen Transferstrategien. Die Faktorenanalysen zeigen, dass sich fünf Konstrukte respektive Transferstrategien trennen lassen (Vermutungen oder Fragen formulieren, Einnehmen einer Subjektperspektive, Analogien Schule, Analogien Freizeit und Schlüsse ziehen), wobei diese auf bekannten Mechanismen beim Transfer wie auch auf induktiv aus Aussagen von Proband*innen der Interviewstudie abgeleiteten Vorgehensweisen basieren. Das überarbeitete und validierte Messinstrument wird daraufhin in der Haupterhebung (N=456) eingesetzt. Das Ziel dieses Studienteils ist die Untersuchung von Faktoren, wie das situationale Interesse am vorangegangenen Physikunterricht oder die wahrgenommene Kontextorientierung in diesem Unterricht, die die Nutzung von Transferstrategien potenziell beeinflussen. Ein Strukturgleichungsmodell zeigt hierzu, dass bei drei der fünf Transferstrategien (Vermutungen oder Fragen formulieren, Einnehmen einer Subjektperspektive und Schlüsse ziehen) eine hohe wahrgenommene Kontextorientierung im Unterricht zu einer verstärkten Nutzung von solch metakognitiven Strategien führt. Das situationale Interesse spielt hingegen eine weniger einflussreiche Rolle, indem dieses lediglich die Anwendung der Transferstrategie Vermutungen oder Fragen formulieren (negativ) beeinflusst. In weiteren Teilstudien wird die Häufigkeit der Nutzung der fünf Transferstrategien, auch in Bezug auf die Schulstufen und das Schulniveau, verglichen. Hierbei zeigen sich nur wenige signifikante Unterschiede. Ergänzend dazu wird der Frage nachgegangen, ob sich Schülerinnen bei der Nutzung von Transferstrategien wie auch bei der Wahrnehmung der Kontextorientierung des Physikunterrichts und im diesbezüglich entwickelten situationalen Interesse von Schülern unterscheiden. Schülerinnen weisen bei einem Aspekt des situationalen Interesses, der emotionalen Valenz, einen tieferen Durchschnittswert auf, nehmen aber denselben Unterricht als stärker kontextorientiert wahr. Hinsichtlich der Nutzung von Transferstrategien unterscheiden sich Schülerinnen bei vier der fünf Strategien signifikant von Schülern. Bis auf die Transferstrategie Schlüsse ziehen werden alle Strategien von Schülerinnen signifikant häufiger eingesetzt, wenn auch nur mit einer kleinen Effektstärke. Aus den Ergebnissen der insgesamt vier Teilstudien lässt sich unter anderem schließen, dass Transferprozesse sehr unterschiedlich ablaufen (hinsichtlich der Kategorien des entwickelten Frameworks) und ein kontextorientierter Unterricht die Nutzung von gewissen Transferstrategien beim späteren Transfer fördern kann.
Objective: This study aims to explore stakeholders' perspectives on the "1+X" certificate policy and its impact on innovative teaching methods to enhance instructors' core abilities at vocational colleges. It also aims to develop a management model for innovation processes based on this policy and instructors' essential skills. Theoretical Framework: The project involves key stakeholders, including executives, teachers, and students. Consequently, this study commences with an exploration of the policy implementation process, drawing upon the practical experiences of these key stakeholders. Subsequently, it seeks to evaluate the proficiency levels of university teachers. Lastly, it endeavors to examine the relationship between the key factors of the innovative management process and teachers' competencies. Method: Using a sequential exploratory mixed-method approach, qualitative data was collected from vocational college administrators, industrial managers, and certified instructors in Yunnan and Chongqing in 2023. A purposive sample of 30 individuals was analyzed using data from institutional reports, interviews, and focus groups, with thematic analysis for interpretation. Results and Discussion: Qualitative findings identified three key factors affecting the management of innovative teaching processes and teachers' core competencies: policy implementation, training, and knowledge transfer. Based on these insights, the PTKT model was proposed and empirically tested with PLS-SEM. Results showed that knowledge transfer plays a mediating role between policy implementation and teacher core competencies, as well as between training and teacher core competencies, with all hypotheses supported. Research Implications: The study provides dual recommendations. For innovation management, it suggests administrators and HR managers focus on continuous skill development before, during, and after training, emphasizing aspects such as recruitment, selection, fostering a supportive work environment, and enhancing knowledge transfer. For future research, it proposes adopting action research methodologies, customizing courses, and engaging in project-based training and R&D activities to facilitate mutual learning.
Die rasante Zunahme digitaler Lehr-Lernangebote im Internet, insbesondere unter den Bezeichnungen "digitaler Lernpfad" oder "WebQuest", offenbart eine Diskrepanz zwischen den vorhandenen Angeboten und den damit verbundenen medien- und fachdidaktischen Zielsetzungen. Oftmals fehlt es an einer gezielten Förderung von Schlüsselkompetenzen wie Recherchekompetenz und dem Ausbau forschend-selbstgesteuerten Lernens. Dieser Beitrag präsentiert einen Orientierungsrahmen, der dazu dient, digitale mediendidaktische Lehr-Lern-Konzepte methodisch präziser zu verorten und sie mit klar strukturierten Lernzielen zu verbinden. Hierdurch wird eine Grundlage für die effektive Gestaltung solcher Konzepte geschaffen.
Im Fokus steht die Suche nach einem mediendidaktischen Konzept zur Einordnung und Entwicklung digitaler Lehr-Lernumgebungen (Didaktische Kategorisierungspotenziale nach Verarbeitungstiefe). Besonderes Augenmerk liegt dabei auf der Berücksichtigung von Tiefenstrukturen des Unterrichts, insbesondere im Hinblick auf Problemorientierung und den Transfer von Wissen in nahen und weiten Kontexten. Die Anpassung der Lernzieltaxonomie nach Bloom/Krathwohl, basierend auf der überarbeiteten Version von Kerber, bildet einen wichtigen Referenzrahmen für die Entwicklung und Bewertung der digitalen Lehr-Lern-Konzepte.
Digitale Strukturierungskonzepte: Digitale Lernpfade | WebInstrukts | Digital-Analytische Lernpfade | WebQuests | WebInQuiry Quests
An evolution-based framework for understanding biological and cultural influences on children's cognitive and academic development is presented. The utility of this framework is illustrated within the mathematical domain and serves as a foundation for examining current approaches to educational reform in the United States. Within this framework, there are two general classes of cognitive ability, biologically primary and biologically secondary. Biologically primary cognitive abilities appear to have evolved largely by means of natural or sexual selection. Biologically secondary cognitive abilities reflect the co-optation of primary abilities for purposes other than the original evolution-based function and appear to develop only in specific cultural contexts. A distinction between these classes of ability has important implications for understanding children's cognitive development and achievement.
Research has shown that learners willingly apply scientific rules that they have been taught to known cases, but that they are hesitant to use the rules for unknown ones. The primary purpose of the present study was to obtain a clearer confirmation of this generalization, referred to as "the familiarity effect in knowledge application". A secondary objective was to examine why participants generally exclude unknown cases from the scope of application of the rule that they had been taught. The hypothesis was that the familiarity effect occurs because learners do not sufficiently understand the predictive function of the rule that they were taught. In the present study, 253 university students were divided into 2 groups. Both groups were taught a rule for a property of metals. For one group, the summarizing function of the rule was emphasized, whereas for the other, its predictive function was stressed. The results for the group that had been taught the summarizing function of the rule confirmed the familiarity effect. In contrast, the results for the group that had been taught the predictive functions of the rule did not show the familiarity effect. In addition, the predictive function's teaching effect transferred to the application of another rule. However, no difference was found between the 2 groups in their interpretation of the meaning of the rules.
Zusammenfassung
Obwohl in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten wiederholt ein Theoriedefizit zu Fragen des Lernens und der Lernförderung konstatiert und zur Entwicklung einer fundierten theoretischen Basis aufgerufen wurde, besteht dieses Problem weiterhin. Wichtige Aspekte dieses Defizits (z. B. lediglich viele erklärungsmächtige Mini-Theorien oder aber grobe Rahmentheorien) und mögliche Ursachen dafür (z. B. Vernachlässigung von Theoriebildung als Ausbildungsinhalt) werden diskutiert. Es wird darauf eingegangen, dass Versprechen, die in den letzten Jahrzehnten mit neuen bzw. in Mode gekommenen übergreifenden theoretischen Perspektiven verbunden waren (neurowissenschaftliche Perspektive, situierte Perspektive, konstruktivistische Perspektive), nicht eingelöst werden konnten. Auch aktuelle Strömungen (z. B. Open Science), so wichtig sie für eine gute empirische Praxis sein mögen, zielen nicht prioritär darauf ab, die Theorieentwicklung zu fördern. Für die Zukunft wünschenswert wären (a) allgemein ein stärkerer Fokus auf Theorieentwicklung, (b) die Entwicklung integrativer Theorien und (c) die profunde theoretische Konzeptualisierung grundlegender, aber bislang weitgehend offener Fragen (z. B. zum Wechselspiel zwischen Lehr- bzw. Instruktionsdesign-Angeboten einerseits und den partiell immer selbstregulierten individuellen Lernprozessen andererseits).
This study investigated the transfer of ten learning outcomes from an ESAP writing course to subject-specific courses. It was a longitudinal study carried over one academic year. It followed 40 undergraduate students of English under normal classroom conditions. A mixed-methods approach was used. It included analysis of students’ written exams from four subjects, student semi-structured interviews, and a student questionnaire. Elements from Barnett and Ceci’s (2002) transfer taxonomy were also used. They helped classify the targeted learning outcomes in terms of specificity/generality and helped distinguish between near and far transfer contexts. Results showed that the transfer of the ten learning outcomes to the near and far transfer contexts was affected by the specificity/generality of the learned skill in the first place. The learning outcomes that were classified as specific transferred more easily to both the near and far transfer contexts, while the more complex learning outcomes transferred in a constrained manner. The findings suggest that an ESAP writing course that is informed by teaching for transfer principles offers students a more authentic learning environment to hone their writing skills and to transfer these skills to other contexts. However, this transfer can be a very slow process.
Critics’ complaints about business school are correct. At many business schools, at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, students learn very little. However, these critics usually compare realistic accounts of how bad business school is to unrealistic and idealized accounts of liberal arts education. In fact, liberal arts is a waste of time and money for most students, who learn almost nothing from it and forget most of what they know. Liberal arts education rests upon a falsified psychological theory of learning; in fact, most students cannot transfer what they learn in the liberal arts to novel contexts. Accordingly, pretty much any sound reason to eliminate business education is also a reason to eliminate liberal arts education. Once we take a realistic assessment of the failings of both kinds of education, there is little reason to push students who prefer business education into the liberal arts.
A widespread call has been made to develop and support more integrated approaches to STEM education. The first law of thermodynamics serves as a guiding principle for the crosscutting concept of energy and matter. A qualitative interview study was undertaken to support integrated approaches to STEM education by exploring how chemistry, physics, and engineering students (n = 40) transfer first law concepts across disciplinary contexts. Acquired interview data were analysed through the lens of the dynamic transfer framework to reveal the underlying contextual elements students used to know with. Emergent trends across the disciplines revealed how these applied reasoning approaches and epistemologies were realised by each discipline. Productive transfer is shown to be facilitated by the coordination of different disciplinary epistemologies. Suggestions are made to practitioners on how to support students in applying different reasoning approaches when addressing first law problems. The applied methods also serve as a promising methodology for future investigation of students’ transfer of crosscutting concepts.
This chapter highlights the under-representation of women business school academics in the burgeoning research impact agenda. We call here for delegitimizing gender inequality for women scholars in business schools. Our main arguments are (1) that there is significant hypocrisy between symbolic and substantive legitimacy in business schools; (2) business school branding claims that promote the United Nation’s (2015) sustainable development goals (SDGs) are at odds with internal discrimination against female faculty; and (3) gendered research impact is detrimental for the quality of women scholars working lives as well as for business schools as important sites of impactful knowledge pro-duction.
Higher education provides crucial public and private goods. Especially
in the United States, however, higher education reflects and sometimes
compounds enduring inequities and inefficiencies. Higher education, crit-
ics argue, inefficiently provides a credential that is often crucial for career
advancement but whose value is mainly to signal skills one already had.
This paper explores the moral significance of an oversupply of higher education, especially for persons disadvantaged because of uncorrected historic injustice. I review the moral costs of credentials inflation. Focusing on those who already have independent claims to reparation for historic injustice, I set out whether and how some such persons might have additional claims to repair for the increased credential demands for work. I close by considering what sorts of repair corrective justice might prescribe.
Backward transfer is defined as the influence that new learning has on individuals’ prior ways of reasoning. In this article, we report on an exploratory study that examined the influences that quadratic functions instruction in real classrooms had on students’ prior ways of reasoning about linear functions. Two algebra classes and their teachers at two comprehensive high schools served as the participants. Both schools drew from low-socioeconomic urban populations. The study involved paper-and-pencil assessments about linear functions that were administered before and after a four- to five-week instructional unit on quadratic functions. The teachers were instructed to teach the quadratic functions unit using their regular approach. Qualitative analysis revealed three kinds of backward transfer influences and each influence was related to a shift in how the students reasoned about functions in terms of an action or process view of functions. Additionally, features of the instruction in each class provided plausible explanations for the similarities and differences in backward transfer effects across the two classrooms. These results offer insights into backward transfer, the relationship between prior knowledge and new learning, aspects of reasoning about linear functions, and instructional approaches to teaching functions.
A fundamental goal of second language (L2) education is to promote learning that students will apply in new situations. For example, in an English-as-a-second-language course for engineering students at a Canadian university, a goal might be to help students learn to write lab reports so this learning can be applied in other courses with labs.
An evaluation of exemplar-based models of generalization was provided for ill-defined categories in a category abstraction paradigm. 72 undergraduates initially classified 35 high-level distortions into 3 categories, defined by 5, 10, and 20 different patterns, followed by a transfer test administered immediately and after 1 wk. The transfer patterns included old, new, prototype, and unrelated exemplars of which the new patterns were at 1 of 5 levels of similarity to a particular training (old) stimulus. In both experiments, increases in category size and old–new similarity facilitated transfer performance. However, the effectiveness of old–new similarity was strongly attenuated by increases in category size and delay of the transfer test. It is concluded that examplar-based generalization may be effective only under conditions of minimal category experience and immediacy of test; with continued category experience, performance on the prototype determines classification accuracy. (22 ref)
Investigated in Exps I–IV (with 48, 48, 54, and 72 undergraduates, respectively) how well Ss in college algebra classes could use the solution of a distance, mixture, or work problem to solve other problems in the same category. The solution could either be applied directly to solve equivalent problems or had to be slightly modified to solve similar problems. Ss in Exp I could not use the solution to produce more correct solutions on either equivalent or similar problems. Exps II and III demonstrated that either allowing Ss to consult the solution as they worked on the test problems or providing more elaborate solutions improved transfer to equivalent problems but did not improve transfer to similar problems. In Exp IV, there was some transfer to similar problems that differed only in complexity, but Ss relied too much on a syntactic approach in which they filled in the slots of an equation. Ss made many matching errors even when solving a simpler problem that only required eliminating a number. Analysis of errors revealed that Ss had considerable difficulty in specifying the relations among variables. (7 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Tested predictions of a structure-mapping model for word problems in 4 experiments involving 132 undergraduates. In Exps I and II, Ss rated the potential usefulness of solutions for pairs of problems—mixture problems in Exp I and work problems in Exp II. The problems were either equivalent (same story, same procedure), similar (same story, different procedure), isomorphic (different story, same procedure), or unrelated (different story, different procedure). Ss in Exp III used an example solution for a work problem and a mixture problem to generate equations to related test problems that differed in their mappings from the example. In Exp IV, Ss matched concepts in the test problems to corresponding concepts in the examples to provide a direct measure of their ability to construct mappings across different problems. In Exps III and IV, Ss performed significantly better on isomorphic problems than on similar problems, and significantly better on work isomorphs than on mixture isomorphs. Results suggest that a structure-mapping model that emphasizes the transparency and structure of the mapping can be used to predict the usefulness of a solution. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Reexamines the nature of individual differences in novel and practiced performance on skill learning tasks from an information processing framework. Two major sources of data and discussion are reanalyzed and critically evaluated. One source concerns the changes in interindividual between-subjects variability with task practice; the other pertains to associations between intellectual abilities and task performance during skill acquisition. Early studies yielded mixed results regarding the convergence or divergence of individual differences with practice. Other studies indicated small or trivial correlations between individual differences in intelligence and "gain" scores. More recent studies indicated small correlations between performance measures on skill learning tasks and standard intellectual and cognitive ability measures, as well as increasing amounts of task-specific variance over learning trials. Data confirm the proposition that individuals converge on performance as tasks become less dependent on attentional resources with practice. When appropriate methodological techniques are used and crucial task characteristics are taken into account, intellectual abilities play a substantial part in determining individual differences in skill learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
An integrative theory that links general models of skill acquisition with ability determinants of individual differences in performance is presented. Three major patterns of individual differences during skill acquisition are considered: changes in between-subjects variability, the simplex pattern of trial intercorrelations, and changing ability–performance correlations with practice. In addition to a review of previous theory and data, eight experimental manipulations are used to evaluate the cognitive ability demands associated with different levels of information-processing complexity and consistency. Subjects practiced category word search, spatial figure, and choice reaction time tasks over several hundred trials of task practice. An air traffic controller simulation was used to show generalization to a complex task. Examinations of practice-related between-subjects variance changes and ability–performance correlations are used to demonstrate that an equivalence exists between three broad phases of skill acquisition and three cognitive–intellectual determinants of individual differences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Transfer of training is of paramount concern for training researchers and practitioners. Despite research efforts, there is a growing concern over the "transfer problem." The purpose of this paper is to provide a critique of the existing transfer research and to suggest directions for future research investigations. The conditions of transfer include both the generalization of learned material to the job and the maintenance of trained skills over a period of time on the job. The existing research examining the effects of training design, trainee, and work-environment factors on conditions of transfer is reviewed and critiqued. Research gaps identified from the review include the need to (1) test various operationalizations of training design and work-environment factors that have been posited as having an impact on transfer and (2) develop a framework for conducting research on the effects of trainee characteristics on transfer. Needed advancements in the conceptualization and operationalization of the criterion of transfer are also discussed. ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR Copyright of Personnel Psychology is the property of Blackwell Publishing Limited and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts)
The author elaborates his general theory of the relation between learning and human ability, with learning as a particular case of transfer. He emphasizes environmental factors in the formation of abilities, and infers that different cultural environments lead to the development of different patterns of ability. Abilities emerge through a process of differential transfer.
This chapter describes the progress made toward understanding chess skill. It describes the work on perception in chess, adding some new analyses of the data. It presents a theoretical formulation to characterize how expert chess players perceive the chess board. It describes some tasks that correlate with chess skill and the cognitive processes of skilled chess players. It is believed that the demonstration of de Groot's, far from being an incidental side effect of chess skill, actually reveals one of the most important processes that underlie chess skill—the ability to perceive familiar patterns of pieces. In the first experiment discussed in the chapter, two tasks were used. The memory task was very similar to de Groot's task: chess players saw a position for 5 seconds and then attempted to recall it. Unlike de Groot, multiple trials were used—5 seconds of viewing followed by recall—until the position was recalled perfectly. The second task or the perception task for simplicity involved showing chess players a position in plain view.
Little is known about the genetic and environmental etiology of the association between specific cognitive abilities and scholastic achievement during the early school years. A multivariate genetic analysis of cognitive and achievement measures was conducted for 146 pairs of identical twins and 132 pairs of fraternal twins from 6 to 12 years of age. At the phenotypic level, measures of achievement were moderately correlated with specific cognitive abilities. A multivariate model including one general factor and specific factors in the genetic and environmental matrices indicated that the phenotypic relationship between achievement and cognition was mediated primarily by genetic influences. Genetic correlations among the cognitive and achievement tests ranged from .57 to .85, shared environment correlations were essentially zero, and specific environment correlations were low (.00 to .19). We conclude that there is substantial overlap between genetic effects on scholastic achievement and specific cognitive abilities. Performance on ability measures differs from that on achievement measures largely for environmental reasons.
An experiment was conducted investigating the effects of training two components of a dimension-abstracted oddity problem, oddity responding and attention. All Ss were given a series of three problems. Type of oddity training was manipulated on Problem 1, and Ss learned (1) an oddity response in a problem whose format was the same as the final transfer problem, (2) an oddity response in a problem whose format was different from the final problem, or (3) no oddity response. Attention training was manipulated on Problem 2. The results indicated that Ss given same format oddity training and appropriate attention training were able to integrate that information on the final problem, that the probability of transferring the oddity response learned on Problem 1 to Problem 3 depended upon the similarity of the task formats, and that the two trained components tended to combine in an interactive fashion.
Previous research on transfer in problem-solving has primarily been concerned with the transfer of a specific solution procedure from a source problem to an analogous target problem. This paper considers whether transfer may also occur at a more general level of description, namely that responsible for specifying a common representation (e.g., a matrix) for two problems. The results of an experiment showed convincingly that representational transfer can occur in the absence of a common solution procedure for the problems. This result opens up a new area of research on transfer in problem solving.
This paper deals with an exhaustive study of the gain in scores of pupils, within a year's time according to the subjects studied. To cite one of the many comparisons: the gains for pupils who studied "English, history, geometry, and Latin" are compared with the gains for the pupils who studied "English, history, geometry, and shop-work." Over 8,500 pupils in grades IX, X, XI were tested in May, 1922, and then reëxamined in May, 1923. Space does not permit a description of the composite examination used. Those interested can find a full outline of it in the
J. of Educ. Res., 1922,
5. The following are a few of the striking results thus far obtained. Those pupils who studied mathematics as it is taught in the schools to-day increased their ability to think by a small amount; but not much larger than the gains in other subjects. In fact in some instances cooking, sewing, biology and bookkeeping showed as large gains as those made in the mathematics group and in others even greater gains. Further reports on this important problem are to be made. From Psych Bulletin 21:08:00937. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
the layperson's tendency to equate intelligence with abstract thought is shared by cognitive psychologists / in the present chapter we argue for a different view / our thesis is that less abstract information, which we will refer to as the specific, also needs to be given its due / we believe that the specific and the abstract are more tightly linked than the modal theory of classification learning or problem solving would imply
our thesis is not that abstraction does not occur, but rather that abstraction is more closely tied to specific examples than is commonly thought / this chapter is organized around three claims: 1. reasoning is often case-based and often relies on specific examples rather than on more abstract knowledge; 2. abstraction is not necessarily an autonomous process that operates on or performs computations on examples but is otherwise independent of them / instead, abstraction often appears to derive naturally from exemplar comparison and use; 3. in general, induction is conservative in the sense that it preserves more information associated with examples than many theories of problem solving and categorization imply
the rest of the chapter is organized as follows / we first review evidence from the literature on categorization and problem solving bearing on our claims of case-based or context-dependent knowledge, nonautonomous abstraction, and conservative induction / we next consider some research in artificial intelligence and psychology that makes use of related ideas / finally, we summarize the issues and implications of this specificity (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
In this experiment three groups were used: the control group, the practiced group, and the trained group. All three took the end tests (memorizing poetry, memorizing prose, facts, Turkish-English vocabulary, historical data, memory span for consonants) but each group differed from the others in practice. The control group was given no training or practice in memorizing; the practiced group memorized poetry and nonsense syllables, using their own methods; the trained group used the same time and material as the practiced group, but distributed their time differently, giving 76 minutes to listening to an exposition of the technique of memorizing, 76 minutes to memorizing poetry, and 25 minutes to studying nonsense syllables. The practice group and the training group each used 177 minutes in practice. The results were striking and significant. The training group improved much more than either the practice group or the control group, e.g., 31.6% more than the practice group. The probable errors of gain were computed. In every case the amount of gain of the training group above the other groups was more than six times the probable error of gain. It seems clear from this experiment that the method of study is the important factor which transfers and that the amount of transfer depends upon the method of study. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
A computer simulation model was fitted to human laboratory data for the Missionaries and Cannibals task to explain (1) the effects upon problem performance of giving a hint, and (2) the effects of solving the problem a second time after one successful solution had been achieved. Most of the variance in the relative frequencies of different moves can be explained by positing that the effect of the hint, or of previous experience in solving the problem, is to cause subjects to switch more promptly from a strategy of balancing the numbers of missionaries and cannibals on both sides of the river, to a means-ends strategy.
The study investigated the effect of transfer between two problems having similar (homomorphic) problem states. The results of three experiments revealed that although transfer occurred between repetition of the same problems, transfer occurred between the Jealous Husbands problem and the Missionary—Cannibal problem only when (a) Ss were told the relationship between the two problems and (b) the Jealous Husbands problem was given first. The results are related to the formal structure of the problem space and to alternative explanations of the use of analogy in problem solving. These include memory for individual moves, memory for general strategies, and practice in applying operators.
A conceptual theory for predicting the relations between intellectual abilities and performance during task practice is proposed and evaluated. This macro-theory integrates modern hierarchical theories of intellectual abilities with information-processing theories of automatic and controlled processing (Schneider & Shiffrin, 1977) and performance-resource functions (Norman & Bobrow, 1975). An empirical evaluation of the theory is provided from an experiment with high school and college students. Subjects practiced for several hours on verbal and spatial memory tasks with consistent and varied information-processing manipulations. Derived correlations between ability factors and task performance measures indicate support for the theory and support for linkage of the concepts of intellectual abilities and attentional resources.
Investigated the effect of improvement of one mental function upon other functions allied to it. Six Ss were tested on a particular function and then trained to enhance another function, after which the first mental function was reevaluated, and its effect in the improvement estimated. Concluded that the senses evaluated could not be generalized or be considered within a narrow perspective. Improvement in any single mental function need not improve the ability in similar functions, it may injure it. Spread of practice occurred only where identical elements were concerned in the influencing and the influenced function. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved), (C) 1901 by the American Psychological Association
The use of an analogy from a semantically distant domain to guide the problemsolving process was investigated. The representation of analogy in memory and processes involved in the use of analogies were discussed theoretically and explored in five experiments. In Experiment I oral protocols were used to examine the processes involved in solving a problem by analogy. In all experiments subjects who first read a story about a military problem and its solution tended to generate analogous solutions to a medical problem (Duncker's "radiation problem"), provided they were given a hint to use the story to help solve the problem. Transfer frequency was reduced when the problem presented in the military story was substantially disanalogous to the radiation problem, even though the solution illustrated in the story corresponded to an effective radiation solution (Experiment II). Subjects in Experiment III tended to generate analogous solutions to the radiation problem after providing their own solutions to the military problem. Subjects were able to retrieve the story from memory and use it to generate an analogous solution, even when the critical story had been memorized in the context of two distractor stories (Experiment IV). However, when no hint to consider the story was given, frequency of analogous solutions decreased markedly. This decrease in transfer occurred when the story analogy was presented in a recall task along with distractor stories (Experiment IV), when it was presented alone, and when it was presented in between two attempts to solve the problem (Experiment V). Component processes and strategic variations in analogical problem solving were discussed. Issues related to noticing analogies and accessing them in memory were also examined, as was the relationship of analogical reasoning to other cognitive tasks. Peer Reviewed http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/23210/1/0000139.pdf
Scores obtained at eight different stages of practice on the Complex Coordination Test together with scores on 18 reference
tests were subjected to a Thurstone Centroid Factor Analysis. Nine meaningful factors were identified in the experimental
battery. The results indicated considerable, but systematic, changes in the factor structure of the Complex Coordination Test
as practice on the task was continued. The test became less complex (factorially) as practice was continued. Moreover, there
was a change in thenature of the factors contributing variance at early and later stages of practice. Implications of the findings are related to certain
problems of learning theory, psychomotor test development, and criterion analysis.
In a series of seven experiments we examined preschool children's ability to learn and transfer across problems that shared a common underlying structure but differed in surface manifestations. The problems involved novel uses of familiar tools or simple biological themes such as mimicry as a method of defense. In the first three studies, we examined children's ability to learn to transfer after being exposed to a variety of transfer situations. Three-year-olds benefit from conditions that encourage them to reflect upon relational similarity; four-year-olds show a learning to learn effect without prompts to look for similarity. Both ages rapidly form a mind set to look for analogous solutions across problems. In Studies 4 to 7, we looked at preschoolers' learning from examples. When required to explain why an example is an illustration of a general theme, transfer to other instances of that theme is rapid, often occurring on the basis of only one example. Explanations and elaborations provided by the children, either spontaneously or in response to prompts, are much more effective at promoting transfer than those provided by an experimenter. The data are discussed in terms of explanation or analysis-based models of both machine and human learning.
Information-processing correlates of computer-assisted word learning by moderately and severely mentally retarded students were identified. Nineteen subjects completed 10, 15-minute computer-assisted instruction sessions and seven basic cognitive tasks measuring simple learning, choice reaction time, relearning, probed recall, stimulus discrimination, tachistoscopic threshold, and recognition memory. Stimulus discrimination, probed recall, and simple learning were significantly related to word learning. Results suggest that instruction should be modified to accommodate individual differences in these abilities.
An attempt is made to theoretically relate within the same scheme learning and ability. Several views are advanced: among them, different environments result in the over-learning of certain patterns, the concept of ability has reference to performance at some crude limit of learning, that the role of human ability in subsequent learning can be viewed as a problem in transfer. A two-factor theory of learning is proposed. "The correlation among abilities is explained in terms of positive transfer, and their differentiation by the development of abilities specific to particular learning situations." 24 references.
A practice task together with a number of reference tests was administered. A factor analysis of scores obtained at different stages of proficiency on the practice task together with scores on the reference tests was carried out. The results confirmed earlier findings with a different psychomotor practice task that considerable but systematic changes in factor structure occur as a function of practice. However, in contrast to the previous study, the present task did not become progressively less complex (in terms of the number of factors measured) as practice was continued. As before, there was an increase in the contribution of a factor common only to the practice task, but this increase was not as marked as with the previous task.
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