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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
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“In an excellent review of the transfer literature, Barnett and Ceci (2002) point out that “there is little agreement in the scholarly community about the nature of transfer, the extent to which it occurs, and the nature of its underlying mechanisms.”
BackgroundZerres, A., Hüffmeier, J., Freund, P. A., Backhaus, K., & Hertel, G. (2013) · Journal of Applied Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0032255 · Cited by 47
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“According to Barnett and Ceci (2002), there are at least six dimensions that should be considered in this context: modality, knowledge domain, physical context, temporal context, functional context, and social context.”
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“Transfer can be defined as being able to generalize previously learned information from one context to another (Barnett and Ceci 2002) and is a critically important goal in education.”
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BackgroundLemke, N. C., Werner, C., Wiloth, S., Oster, P., Bauer, J. M., & Hauer, K. A. (2018) · Gerontology · doi:10.1159/000490852 · Cited by 46
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“…what is acquired in a discipline and what is expected to be acquired from interdisciplinary tasks are critical factors determining whether the difficulty of such transfer can be reduced (Barnett & Ceci, 2002; Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000; Brown & Kane, 1988; Sweller, 1980; Vosniadou, 1989).”
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“Since deeper learning is more likely to be transferred to new contexts (Barnett & Ceci, 2002), the high rate of transfer suggests that participants encoded the gist of our instructions and therefore may also have applied this understanding while making their framing decisions.”
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“The near transfer test required the use of knowledge acquired in each of the texts applied in a different context (Barnett & Ceci, 2002; Kinstch, 1998), whereas the questionnaire used as pre- and posttest required retrieval of the information from prior knowledge and the texts.”
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“…leads to gains on the trained tasks and on untrained activities when the untrained tasks have many features in common with the trained tasks (e.g. Barnett & Ceci, 2002; Gathercole et al., 2019; Noack, Lövdén, Schmiedek, & Linderberger, 2009; Soveri, Antfolk, Karlsson, Salo, & Laine, 2017;…”
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“According to review by Barnett and Ceci [35] and Cook et al.”
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“First, what can be transferred has been expanded to include not just procedures and abstract principles, but also representations (Barnett & Ceci, 2002; Novick Correspondence should be addressed to Randi A. Engle, Graduate School of Education, University of California, Berkeley, 4641 Tolman Hall,…”
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“However, the tests used in these studies arguably required only limited transfer (Barnett & Ceci, 2002).”
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“1993); finally, transfer among young children is seen when their learning of the source domain is causal rather than superficial, a condition this study hoped to support (Brown 1989; Brown and Kane 1988; Barnett and Ceci 2002).”
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“There has been significant debate in the psychology literature about which of these theories best explains transfer and a call for further research to examine transfer in the motor domain (Barnett & Ceci, 2002).”
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“6.1.1 Types of transfer Barnett and Ceci (2002) provide a comprehensive taxonomy for transfer distance.”
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“Indeed, it is believed that the ultimate test of conceptual understanding is the ability to use it to solve a novel problem (see [34, 35]) and that flexible use of mathematics knowledge is evidenced by the ability to abstract general principles that can be applied across a number of different contexts [36].”
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“When providing multiple examples, teachers should take care to use examples that have different surface features (Gick and Holyoak, 1983) and that are similar to possible future transfer situations (Barnett and Ceci, 2002) and to provide direct instruction on similarities across the examples (Berry, 1983).”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialHorne, K., Filmer, H. L., Nott, Z. E., Hawi, Z., Pugsley, K., Mattingley, J. B., & Dux, P. E. (2020) · Nature Human Behaviour · doi:10.1038/s41562-020-00979-5 · Cited by 40
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“We learned that transfer is not automatic, and in fact, lab studies have shown it is quite rare (Barnett & Ceci, 2002; De Corte, 2003).”
BackgroundCushen, P. J., & Wiley, J. (2018) · Memory & Cognition · doi:10.3758/s13421-018-0845-1 · Cited by 36
“…Department of Psychology, Murray State University, 212 Wells Hall, Murray, KY 42071, USA 2 Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA consider it (Barnett & Ceci, 2002; Gick & Holyoak, 1980, 1983; Reeves & Weisberg, 1994; see review by George & Wiley, 2018).”
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“…the accuracy of unprompted transfer of the concepts of evidence taught in the context of lab-based investigations to the SSI task, which is situated relatively ‘far’ from the teaching context in terms of time, the knowledge domain and the functional context, is challenging (Barnett and Ceci 2002).”
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“video and photos of hiding events and hiding places)—a noteworthy accomplishment by 2-year-olds, given that surface differences between base and target often disrupt transfer by research participants of all ages (see Barnett & Ceci, 2002 , for a review).”
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“Items were created to assess each of these concepts, at varying levels of functional distance from the learning context (Barnett & Ceci, 2002).”
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“…the transfer construct may not even have relevance given that the phenomenon that the mainstream perspective labels as transfer, which is typically operationalized as normative application of prior knowledge in a novel context, has been difficult to produce (Barnett & Ceci, 2002; Detterman, 1993).”
BackgroundThe Crucial Role of Working Memory in Intellectual Functioning
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“…is that the possibility of enhancing WM performance should be seriously considered (Gathercole, Dunning, & Holmes, 2012) and successful efforts to improve WM should produce similar effects in WM-related competencies, including intelligence (Barnett & Ceci, 2002; Shipstead, Redick, & Engle, 2010).”
BackgroundRole and Impact of Reward and Accountability on Training Transfer
Ahmed, U., & Abdul Majid, A. H. (2015) · Business and Economics Journal · doi:10.4172/2151-6219.1000195 · Cited by 36
“The argument concerning to transfer of training started receiving attention around 100 years ago and the focus has remained on nature, context and prevalence [15].”
BackgroundGilbert, J. B., Kim, J. S., & Miratrix, L. W. (2023) · Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics · doi:10.3102/10769986231171710 · Cited by 47
“In this study, learning transfer was conceptualized along a continuum from near transfer to far transfer (Barnett & Ceci, 2002).”
BackgroundEdelsbrunner, P. A., & Thurn, C. (2023) · Educational Research Review · doi:10.1016/j.edurev.2023.100590 · Cited by 53
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“Researchers have identified different types of transfer along three dimensions: positive, negative, and zero transfer; near and far transfer; and lateral and vertical transfer (Barnett & Ceci, 2002).”
Hippocampal volume predicts fluid intelligence in musically trained people
Oechslin, M. S., Descloux, C., Croquelois, A., Chanal, J. P., Ville, D. V. D., Lazeyras, F., & James, C. E. (2013) · Hippocampus · doi:10.1002/hipo.22120 · Cited by 38
Rosalie, S. M., & Müller, S. (2013) · Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology · doi:10.1080/17470218.2013.770044 · Cited by 36
The perplexing role of learner control in e‐learning: will learning and transfer benefit or suffer?
Granger, B. P., & Levine, E. L. (2010) · International Journal of Training and Development · doi:10.1111/j.1468-2419.2010.00351.x · Cited by 36
5 Judges as Members of Small Groups
Martinek, W. L. (2010) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195367584.003.0005 · Cited by 36
Brock, L. L., Murrah, W. M., Cottone, E. A., Mashburn, A. J., & Grissmer, D. W. (2017) · International Journal of Behavioral Development · doi:10.1177/0165025417738057 · Cited by 42
“Past work on skill transfer to other contexts and to other untrained skills yields mixed findings (Barnett & Ceci, 2002).”
BackgroundTransferability of laparoscopic skills using the virtual reality simulator
Yang, C., Kalinitschenko, U., Helmert, J. R., Weitz, J., Reißfelder, C., & Mees, S. T. (2018) · Surgical Endoscopy · doi:10.1007/s00464-018-6156-6 · Cited by 36
“A positive transfer effect is more likely if the content to be transferred and the context to which it is transferred are similar [24].”
BackgroundBier, B., Ouellet, É., & Belleville, S. (2018) · Neuropsychology · doi:10.1037/neu0000417 · Cited by 36
Computing EducationLiterature Review and Voices from the Field
Blikstein, P., & Moghadam, S. H. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108654555.004 · Cited by 43
Assessing Expertise Using Eye Tracking in a Virtual Reality Flight Simulation
Harris, D., Arthur, T., de Burgh, T., Duxbury, M., Lockett-Kirk, R., McBarnett, W., & Vine, S. J. (2023) · The International Journal of Aerospace Psychology · doi:10.1080/24721840.2023.2195428 · Cited by 37
“For commercial VR technologies to be effective in aviation training, they must support sufficient transfer of learning from the VR environment to the real environment (see, Barnett & Ceci, 2002).”
Eccles, D. W., & Feltovich, P. J. (2008) · Performance Improvement Quarterly · doi:10.1002/piq.20014 · Cited by 35
7 Is There a Psychology of Judging?
Schauer, F. F. (2010) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195367584.003.0007 · Cited by 36
Structural enhancement of learning
Trumpower, D. L., & Goldsmith, T. E. (2004) · Contemporary Educational Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.cedpsych.2004.02.001 · Cited by 36
On the improvement of students' conceptual understanding in statistics education
Budé, L. M. (2007) · Research Publications (Maastricht University) · doi:10.26481/dis.20071005lb · Cited by 36
CID: a framework for the cognitive analysis of composite instructional designs
Loibl, K., Leuders, T., Glogger‐Frey, I., & Rummel, N. (2024) · Instructional Science · doi:10.1007/s11251-024-09665-9 · Cited by 35
“Learning goals often include the ability to apply these knowledge components to new situations or problems, which is usually referred to as knowledge transfer (Barnett & Ceci, 2002).”
Dori, Y. J., & Sasson, I. (2013) · Chemistry Education Research and Practice · doi:10.1039/c3rp20093k · Cited by 35
Cogliano, M., Kardash, C. M., & Bernacki, M. L. (2018) · Contemporary Educational Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.cedpsych.2018.12.001 · Cited by 43
Pletz, C., & Zinn, B. (2020) · British Journal of Educational Technology · doi:10.1111/bjet.13024 · Cited by 46
“However, since the results of studies on transfer in the context of these approaches were inconsistent, surprising or sobering (Barnett & Ceci, 2002; Day & Goldstone, 2012; Detterman, 1993), the (3) third generation of approaches to transfer developed, which views transfer from a different…”
BackgroundResultA Process Perspective on Adaptive Performance: Research Insights and New Directions
Jundt, D. K., & Shoss, M. K. (2023) · Group & Organization Management · doi:10.1177/10596011231161404 · Cited by 54
Wolf, D. G. F., Fischer, F. U., Fesenbeckh, J., Yakushev, I. Y., Lelieveld, I. M., Scheurich, A., Schermuly, I., Zschutschke, L., & Fellgiebel, A. (2012) · Human Brain Mapping · doi:10.1002/hbm.22177 · Cited by 35
“The majority of research demonstrating successful transfer investigated near transfer effects in a temporal context [Barnett and Ceci, 2002].”
BackgroundPetsolari, M., Ibrahim, S. B., & Slovak, P. (2024) · Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3613904.3642619 · Cited by 35
“…As a frst step, we conducted a literature search on parenting needs (e.g., [63, 157, 183, 196, 235, 240, 241, 324]), the learning and behavioural sciences (e.g., [14, 15, 21, 144, 147, 224, 230]) and intelligent sys-tem taxonomies/delivery approaches (e.g., [57, 87, 115, 120, 189, 190, 245, 278]).”
Pahor, A., Seitz, A. R., & Jaeggi, S. M. (2022) · Nature Human Behaviour · doi:10.1038/s41562-022-01384-w · Cited by 40
Jaschke, A. C., Honing, H., & Scherder, E. (2018) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0207265 · Cited by 35
Enhancing diagnostic competence with self‐explanation prompts and adaptable feedback
Heitzmann, N., Fischer, F., Kühne-Eversmann, L., & Fischer, M. R. (2015) · Medical Education · doi:10.1111/medu.12778 · Cited by 34
Fostering transfer of websearchers’ evaluation skills: A field test of two transfer theories
Walraven, A., Brand‐Gruwel, S., & Boshuizen, H. P. A. (2010) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2010.01.008 · Cited by 34
“Its nature, the extent to which it occurs and the nature of its underlying mechanisms is being discussed by several authors (e.g., Barnett & Ceci, 2002; Carraher & Schliemann, 2002; Nokes, 2009; Wagner, 2006).”
Integrating formal and grounded representations in combinatorics learning.
Braithwaite, D. W., & Goldstone, R. L. (2013) · Journal of Educational Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0032095 · Cited by 34
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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