One of the important characteristics of learning is that the acquisition of skills,  habits, knowledge and attitudes, influences the acquisition of new learning due to some kind of carry-over effect. The carrying over of feelings, habits, skills, and knowledge from one learning area to another is called transfer of training or learning. Psychologists explained the nature of the transfer of learning process.We shall try to understand the nature of the transfer of learning with the help of various viewpoints of psychologists as reflected in their theories.

Meaning and Nature of Transfer of Learning

According to the older view, transfer of learning implies that training in one faculty of the mind may help in the functioning of older faculties as well various faculties of mind – memory, reasoning, judgment, observation etc. – are directed or trained through various academic subjects. Languages and mathematics give training to the mind which helps in learning other subjects. A person who possesses a good knack for language, can learning and retain any fact easily.Thorndike by proposing the theory of identical elements took the stand that resemblance and similarity between situations has a considerable effect on the amount and kind of transfer of learning that can be carried over from one situation to the other. For instance, take memorization. When a learner practices memorization in one subject area, s/he becomes capable of memorizing other subjects as well, to some extent. And it is quite possible that s/he memorizes the content of some other subject areas quickly. According to this view point, this phenomenon is not due to an improved faculty of memory; rather it depends upon the extent to which the two situations share identical elements of content, attitude, method or aim.Judd says that transfer of learning is nothing but a generalization. According to the principles of generalization proposed by Judd, the development of special skills, the mastery of specific facts, formulation of particular habits and attitudes in one situation have transfer value only if the skill, facts, habits, etc. are systematized and related to other situation in which they can be utilized.In the opinion of Hilgard,transfer of learning is possible only when a person develops the ability of finding out the identity of relationships and using it to solve solutions in new situations and for this, insight is necessary.An analysis of the above mentioned view of psychologists leads us to the following inferences in regard to the nature of transfer of learning:

  • Transfer of learning can also be viewed as problem solving, in which experience in one task influences the performance of another.
  • Transfer of learning comes from similarity of contents, similarity of techniques, similarity of principles, or a combination of these.

Types of Transfer of Learning

Transfer of learning may take place in three ways.

i) Positive Transfer: Positive transfer occurs when the acquisition of one type of performance facilitates another type. In the positive transfer, learning of one activity makes learning of another activity easier. For instance, school children, who memorize poems, mathematical tables and other verbal material, show better learning of the similar new material as compared to the children who did not get previous training in memorization. It is also a common experience that learning to pedal of tricycles makes the pedaling of bicycles easier. In all these examples, we have noticed that previous learning of a related skill benefits the learner in subsequent learning.

ii) Negative transfer:Negative transfer occurs when the previous puts hindrances in the performance of the subsequent task. The content, techniques or principles which make for negative transfer are opposed to those required by the new situation. For instance, after the end of a year, most of us continue to write the previous year on our cheques for some time. If the telephone  number of our friend changes, we often continue dialing their former number.
When we switch over from riding a bicycle to driving a scooter, we often put the clutch lever for stopping the vehicle instead of using the foot brake. These types of habits’ interference are example of negative transfer of learning.

iii) Zero transfer:The zero transfer refers to the fact that previous learning has no effect on the subsequent learning. e.g.: a cricketer who improves his bowling skills is not expected to transfer this skill to improve this batting skill.

Classroom Implications

Utility of transfer of learning should be discussed in the context of the assumption that knowledge, skills and methods of learning which learners use in relation to definite school tasks remain available in the future and also applies to solve new problems. With this assumption in mind, the knowledge of nature of transfer of learning helps you in finding answers to some crucial questions like – what type of learning in the school will help learners in solving problems in daily life.Which type of learning helps and which hinders in coping with day-to-day problems? And perhaps the most important and most neglected question – how best can we increase the transfer effect? Educationists have performed experiments for finding answers to the above mentioned questions. On the basis of the results of their investigations, they recommended that education must be life-centered to facilitate transfer of learning. School activities should have the tint and texture of the activities which the learners are expected to come across in his daily life. Problem-solving and discussion methods are more useful in promoting the power of transfer. Cramming should be replaced by meaningful learning. Learners should be trained to form generalization and they should be made self-reliant in solving new problems.