The DOI matches its Crossref record; 128 of the 128 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
When and where do we apply what we learn?: A taxonomy for far transfer
Abstract
Despite a century's worth of research, arguments surrounding the question of whether far transfer occurs have made little progress toward resolution. The authors argue the reason for this confusion is a failure to specify various dimensions along which transfer can occur, resulting in comparisons of "apples and oranges." They provide a framework that describes 9 relevant dimensions and show that the literature can productively be classified along these dimensions, with each study situated at the intersection of various dimensions. Estimation of a single effect size for far transfer is misguided in view of this complexity. The past 100 years of research shows that evidence for transfer under some conditions is substantial, but critical conditions for many key questions are untested.
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“First, transfer is much more likely under conditions where trained and untrained activities share many features (near transfer) than few (far transfer, Barnett & Ceci, 2002; Noack, Lövdén, Schmiedek, & Lindenberger, 2009).”
From Working memory training involves learning new skills (2019) · cites this paper as Barnett & Ceci, 2002
In the citing paper
“However, it may be that such transfer requires variability in training (Barnett & Ceci, 2002;Schmidt & Bjork, 1992) as most other studies using this form of working-memory training have used at least two variants of the tasks.”
From A simultaneous examination of two forms of working memory training: Evidence for near transfer only (2016) · cites this paper as Barnett & Ceci, 2002
In the citing paper
“The magnitude of transfer, when such was reported, is usually small, and is difficult to dissociate from a null result, since it is not resilient to correction for multiple comparisons.”
From Training-induced improvement in working memory tasks results from switching to efficient strategies (2021) · cites this paper as Barnett & Ceci, 2002
Citations
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 1,001–1,006 of 1,006
Barnett, S. M., Rindermann, H., Williams, W. M., & Ceci, S. J. (2011) · The Cambridge Handbook of Intelligence · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511977244.034 · Cited by 3
Self-citationTesting the testing effect with advanced materials while accounting for individual differences
Redifer, J. L., Myers, S. J., Bae, C. L., Naas, A., & Scott, A. (2026) · Instructional Science · doi:10.1007/s11251-025-09758-z · Cited by 2
“Transferring skills beyond the context in which they are learned is an important component of performance (Barnett & Ceci, 2002; Singley & Anderson, 1989 ).”
Wei, J., & Shang, Y. (2026) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1965371 · Cited by 1
“It includes retention, transfer to new problems, unaided task performance, self-regulated use of knowledge, and independent detection of new errors after AI support is withdrawn (Barnett and Ceci, 2002; Dunlosky et al., 2013; Zimmerman, 2002).”
Toward mastering foreign-language translations: transfer between productive and receptive learning
Bernardi, E., Vaughn, K. E., Dunlosky, J., & Rawson, K. A. (2024) · Memory · doi:10.1080/09658211.2024.2397043
“(Note that transfer refers to any change in context between events, with the following change from learning in one direction to then learning in another – along with the delay in time from the first to second blocks – representing near transfer; Barnett & Ceci, 2002).”
Flexible Prefrontal Control over Hippocampal Episodic Memory for Goal-Directed Generalization
Zheng, Y., Wolf, N., Ranganath, C., O'Reilly, R. C., & McKee, K. L. (2025) · Proceedings of Cognitive Computational Neuroscience 2025 · doi:10.32470/jnqbpro
Sala, G., & Gobet, F. (2019) · Collabra: Psychology · doi:10.2478/collabra.2019.5.1.18
Metadata
- Authors
- Barnett, S. M., & Ceci, S. J.
- Affiliations
- Cornell University (US)
- ORCID
- Ceci, Stephen J.
- Venue
- Psychological Bulletin
- Published
- 2002
- Volume
- 128
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 612-637
- ISSN
- 0033-2909 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1455
- OpenAlex
- W2094192576
- Semantic Scholar
- e43a3199d5f9070f595c7f37dcc71f17589bbab9
- Cited by
- 2,076
- References
- 126
- Citations by year
- 2026: 165 · 2025: 123 · 2024: 128 · 2023: 116 · 2022: 121 · 2021: 129 · 2020: 166 · 2019: 163 · 2018: 88 · 2017: 94 · 2016: 112 · 2015: 72 · 2014: 99 · 2013: 100 · 2012: 79
- FWCI
- 6.62
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychological Bulletin (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Human Resource Development and Performance Evaluation
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Educational and Psychological Assessments
- Keywords
- far transfer, transfer of learning, effect size estimation
- MeSH terms
- Attention, Child, Concept Formation, Generalization, Psychological, Humans, Learning, Mental Recall, Transfer, Psychology
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