Transfer Taxonomies
Of the various attempts to delineate transfer, typological and taxonomic approaches belong to the more common ones (see, e.g., Barnett & Ceci, 2002; Butterfield, 1988; Detterman, 1993; Gagné, 1977; Reeves & Weisberg, 1994; Salomon & Perkins, 1989; Singley & Anderson, 1989). Taxonomies are concerned with distinguishing different types of transfer, and therefore less involved with labeling the actual vehicle of transfer, i.e., what is the explanatory mental unit of transfer that is carried over. Hence, a key problem with many transfer taxonomies is that they offer an excessive number of labels for different types of transfer without engaging in a discussion of the underlying concepts that would justify their distinction; i.e., similarity and the nature of transferred information. This makes it very difficult to appreciate the internal validity of the models.
The following table presents different types of transfer, as adapted from Schunk (2004, p. 220).
| Type | Characteristics |
|---|---|
| Near | Overlap between situations, original and transfer contexts are similar. |
| Far | Little overlap between situations, original and transfer settings are dissimilar. |
| Positive | What is learned in one context enhances learning in a different setting. |
| Negative | What is learned in one context hinders or delays learning in a different setting. |
| Vertical | Knowledge of a previous topic is essential to acquire new knowledge. |
| Horizontal | Knowledge of a previous topic is not essential but helpful to learn a new topic. |
| Literal | Intact knowledge transfers to new task. |
| Figural | Use some aspect of general knowledge to think or learn about a problem. |
| Low Road | Transfer of well-established skills in almost automatic fashion. |
| High Road | Transfer involves abstraction so conscious formulations of connections between contexts. |
| High Road/Forward Reaching | Abstracting situations from a learning context to a potential transfer context. |
| High Road/Backward Reaching | Abstracting in the transfer context features of a previous situation where new skills and knowledge were learned. |
Apart from the effect-based distinction between negative and positive transfer, taxonomies have largely been constructed along two, mostly tacit, dimensions. One concerns the predicted relationship between the primary and secondary learning situation in terms of the categorical overlap of features and knowledge specificity constraints. The other concerns general assumptions about how transfer relationships are established, in terms of mental effort and cognitive process.
Read more about this topic: Transfer Of Learning
Famous quotes containing the word transfer:
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