Transfer of learning

Transfer of learning is the influence of prior learning in one situation on performance in another. It can help, hinder, or leave later performance unchanged.

Near and far transfer: Near transfer occurs between similar situations; far transfer occurs between situations that differ substantially. This distinction describes how similarity between learning and performance settings shapes transfer.
Schema (psychology): A schema is an organized mental structure that represents knowledge about objects, situations, or events. Schemas can organize knowledge so it applies beyond the examples in which it was learned.
Problem-based learning: Problem-based learning organizes instruction around learners investigating and solving complex, open-ended problems. Its problems are designed to connect learned principles with unfamiliar applications.
Identical elements theory: Identical elements theory explains transfer through the overlap of specific elements between learning and performance situations. It offers a direct similarity-based account against broader claims about abstract knowledge.
Analogical transfer: Analogical transfer applies a solution structure from a known problem to a different problem with similar relations. It explains how recognizing shared structure can carry learning across superficially different tasks.
Mental models: Mental models are internal representations of how a system or situation works. A model of underlying relations can support performance when familiar surface cues change.
Simulation training: Simulation training uses a model of a real task or environment for practice without the full consequences of real performance. It raises the practical question of whether simulated practice carries over to real performance.
Formal discipline: Formal discipline is the doctrine that studying a subject strengthens general mental faculties usable across domains. It represents an influential broad-transfer claim that later research substantially questioned.
Transfer-appropriate processing: Transfer-appropriate processing is the principle that memory retrieval improves when learning and testing engage similar mental operations. It shows why matching cognitive demands can matter more than matching surface details.
Retrieval practice: Retrieval practice is the act of strengthening memory by recalling information rather than merely reviewing it. Retrieving knowledge during practice can prepare it for later use in changed settings.

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