Chapter 13

TRANSFER OF LEARNING

Definition of Transfer: Learning a new skill or performing a skill under new conditions influenced by past experiences.
Cumulative Past Experiences: Influence one's ability to learn, both positively and negatively.

Positive Transfer:
- Past experience with one skill facilitates learning a new skill or applying it in a different context.
- Example: Learning zone defense in basketball aids in understanding similar strategies in football.
Negative Transfer:
- Past experience with one skill hinders learning a new skill or performing under unfamiliar conditions.
- Example: A baseball swing affecting a golfer's swing.
Zero Transfer:
- Occurs when two skills are completely unrelated.
- Example: Swimming the butterfly stroke and goaltending in water polo.

Practitioner’s Goals: Aim to capitalize on positive transfer while mitigating negative transfer.
Causes of Negative Transfer:
- Learning a new response to a well-learned stimulus, such as changing the spatial arrangement of a movement (e.g., driving someone else's car).
- Changes in the timing of a movement or rhythmic patterns (e.g., dance or swimming movements).
- Phase relationships between limbs (e.g., post-stroke compensation).
Temporary Effects: Most negative transfer effects are usually temporary, overcome with practice.

Memory Representation:
- Transitioning from driving a manual to an automatic car.
Cognitive Confusion:
- Adjusting to driving on the opposite side of the road.
Intrinsic Dynamics:
- New learned skills interfere with previously learned skills, such as infants regressing to two-hand grasping while learning to walk.

Principles of Transfer: Guide instructional decisions.
Simplified Skills: Drills and games should be introduced as precursors to complex skills.
Skill Progressions: Experience with simplified skills positively transfers to real movements.
- Example: Learning to dive into a swimming pool.

Practitioner Strategies:
- Analyze the skill being taught.
- Determine the cost-benefit ratio of teaching methods.
- Understand the learner’s background and past experiences.
- Describe similarities and differences between related skills.
- Ensure foundational skills are well-learned.
- Use effective analogies to aid understanding.
- Maximize similarities between practice and actual performance context.
- Consider the learner’s skill level for effective transfer support.

Assessment for Similarity:
- Determine the potential for positive transfer by examining:
  - Subcomponents of the skills.
  - Fundamental movement patterns.
  - Strategic and conceptual aspects of the task.
  - Perceptual elements and their temporal/spatial components.

Evaluation of Methods:
- Scrimmages, simulator exercises, and drills should be assessed for cost-effectiveness.
- The effectiveness of a drill should be measured against potential positive transfer outcomes.
- Activities with low similarity to target behavior are not cost-effective.

Understanding Learners:
- Assess learners’ past movement experiences to identify reasons for negative transfer.
- Consider their skill levels; transfer tends to be more beneficial for beginners compared to intermediate learners.

Clarifying Connections:
- Help learners to see skill connections that they may not recognize themselves (e.g., volleyball and football).
- Discuss movement aspects and equipment changes explicitly (e.g., in-line skating vs. ice skating).

Quantifying Transfer: Researchers often calculate the percentage of transfer to measure the effectiveness of learning transfer.