TRAINING, TRANSFER OF

the effects of having learned one activity on an individual's execution of other activities. Three basic types of transfer of training are possible: positive, negative, and zero (neutral). Positive transfer occurs when a previously acquired skill enhances the performance or acquisition of a new one. An example of positive transfer of training is the ability to apply fluency in one Romance language to the acquisition of another. Conversely, a previously acquired skill may have detrimental effects on the attempt to master a new one, which is considered negative transfer. In the case of zero transfer, possessing one skill has a minimal effect on learning another. Psychologists determine the transfer of training by comparing two groups of people, one of which previously has acquired a specific skill and one of which has not. A criterion of a certain level of performance is set for the acquisition of the new skill, and the amount of rehearsal required by each group to reach the criterion is compared. One factor that appears to be important in transfer of training is whether some behaviour needed for the previously learned skill must be abolished to master the new one. This is illustrated by studies of paired-associate learning, in which people are required to respond to the presentation of one word, the stimulus, with another word, the response (e.g., hope-fortress). People who have not previously been taught any other associations to the stimulus learn the response more quickly than people who have been taught a different association (e.g., hope-charity). Thus, if a previously acquired response must be extinguished, negative transfer occurs. Another important factor is the similarity between components of two abilities. If the components are similar and each of them must be utilized differently for the new and old skill, negative transfer results. Using paired-associate learning once again as an example, memorizing the pair hope-fortress will later impede producing, in response to faith, a word dissimilar to fortress, such as river. Negative transfer of training may be caused by a skill that has been obtained either before or after the capacity under investigation. If learning a new task interferes with the production of a skill acquired earlier, retroactive inhibition has taken place. Conversely, when a learned skill impairs the competence of another learned later, proactive inhibition has occurred. See inhibition. influence the learning of one skill has on the learning or performance of another. Will knowledge of English help a person learn German? Are skillful table-tennis (Ping-Pong) players generally good court-tennis players? Can a child who does not know how to add learn to multiply? Such questions represent the problems of transfer of training. Additional reading Introductory psychology texts that discuss transfer of training as an experimental phenomenon and its implications for a wide variety of behaviour include Howard H. Kendler, Basic Psychology, 3rd ed. (1974); and Howard H. Kendler and Tracy S. Kendler, Basic Psychology: Brief Edition (1971). Undergraduate texts that review theories and experimental evidence concerning transfer of training include James Deese and Stewart H. Hulse, The Psychology of Learning, 5th ed. (1980); and John F. Hall, The Psychology of Learning (1966). Henry C. Ellis, The Transfer of Learning (1965), presents a general analysis of transfer and includes reprints of important journal articles on the topic. Hayne W. Reese, The Perception of Stimulus Relations: Discrimination Learning and Transposition (1968); and Donald A. Riley, Discrimination Learning (1968), are accounts of how transfer of training influences discrimination learning. More recent discussion of research on transfer of training may be found in Steven M. Cormier and Joseph D. Hagman (eds.), Transfer of Learning: Contemporary Research and Applications (1987). Howard H. Kendler The Editors of the Encyclopdia Britannica