If You Learn A, Will You Be Better Able to Learn B? - Understanding Transfer of Learning

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Stanford

Explores transfer of learning by asking whether learning one skill or knowledge domain improves learning in a different domain. Defines transfer as applying knowledge, skills, and/or attitudes to new situations, distinguishing near transfer (similar contexts) from far transfer (dissimilar contexts). Reviews Thorndike’s early work on identical elements and classroom examples that complicate a strict near/far split, then examines claims such as chess improving school success and broader cognitive and character traits.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages6

Reading Time15 min

AccessFree to download

Transfer of learning

Near versus Far Transfer

Is Chess the Key to Success at School and in Life?

If You Learn A, Will You Be Better Able to Learn B? Understanding Transfer of Learning ILLUSTRAT IONS BY PAUL ZWOLAK By Pedro De Bruyckere, PaulA. Kirschner, and Casper Hulshof I n 2015, we published our book Urban Myths about Learning and Education.1 An excerpt of one section of that book,“Technology in Education: What Teachers Should Know,”was published in the Spring 2016 issue of American Educa- tor. An unexpected effect was that after the book’s publication, all three of us received a number of requests per week for new educational fact checks. At first, we blogged or tweeted our short answers to these queries, but at a certain point we decided Pedro De Bruyckere is an education scientist at Artevelde University in Belgium and a postdoctoral researcher at Leiden University in theNetherlands. PaulA. Kirschner is an emeritus professor of educational psychology atthe Open University of the Netherlands, a visiting professor of education atthe University of Oulu in Finland, and a guest professor at Thomas More University of Applied Sciences in Belgium. Casper Hulshof teaches at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. This article is excerpted from their book More Urban Myths about Learning and Education: Challenging Eduquacks, Extraordinary Claims, and Alternative Facts (Routledge, 2020). Reprinted with permission of the publisher. to bundle the questions and expand upon our answers. This has resulted in a new book with all new“myths,” More Urban Myths about Learning and Education: Challenging Eduquacks, Extraordinary Claims, and Alternative Facts, from which this article is excerpted. Here, we discuss some of the most often asked questions related to one basic principle in particular: transfer of learning. Transfer of learning is seen asthe use of knowledge, skills, and/ or attitudes that you’ve learned in one situation in a different situation.2 This new situation can be either a similar situation (near transfer) or a dissimilar situation (far transfer). In recent years, we’ve encountered numerous different forms that claim to be examples of far transfer: • Learn how to program, so that you can more easily learn mathematics. • Learn Latin, so that you can better learn other languages. • Learn music, so that you can better learn arithmetic. • Learn chess, so that you can better learn to do just about everything! But are these claims justified? Are they really examples of far transfer? 30 AMERICAN EDUCATOR | SPRING 2020 Near versus Far Transfer Imagine that you’ve learned to drive. You quickly become accustomed to your own car: how the gears work, where to find all the right buttons on the dashboard, etc. If you need to drive a rented car on vacation, some of these things maybe different, but your past experience in your own car will soon help you to get the hang of things. It will even help you if you ever need to learn how to drive a bus. This is what we mean by near transfer.3 Manythings from one situation are fairly similar to manythings in the new situation, although there may be minor differences here and there. Far transfer was an idea first examined in 1923 by Edward Thorndike.4 It was Thorndike, for example, who discussed whether learning Latin could have a positive effect on logical thinking. Even in those days, it was apparent that this was not the case. According to him, it merely seemed that way because so many of the stronger students and thinkers were automatically encouraged to study Latin. In other words, it was more a question of a correlation than a causal relationship. Consequently, the result was the product of something else, namely smarter students or students from a higher social-economic background. Thereis, however, another problem with the delineation of near and far transfer. Perhaps you’ve come across the following situationsin your own classroom. During a geography lesson, students learn how to read a map, but th

FAQs

What is transfer of learning, and how is it defined in the text?

Transfer of learning is the use of knowledge, skills, and/or attitudes learned in one situation in a different situation. The text highlights both the original and the new context as essential.

How do near transfer and far transfer differ?

Near transfer involves new situations that are similar to the original, making learning easier. Far transfer involves dissimilar situations and is therefore harder to justify as a true learning effect.

Why does the text discuss Thorndike’s theory of identical elements?

It uses Thorndike’s idea that transfer is easier when there are more similar or identical elements between what has been learned and what must be learned next. This frames transfer as a continuum rather than a strict near/far division.

What claim is examined regarding chess, and what outcomes are proposed?

The text examines the claim from Armenian schools that chess is key to success in school and life. It summarizes the argument that chess training can improve problem solving and broader cognitive skills and character traits such as creativity and emotional stability.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Stanford