Skill Acquisition: Transfer of Skills

Skill Acquisition: Transfer of Skills

Positive Transfer

  • Occurs when the learning of one skill improves the performance or rate of learning of another.
  • For example, a rugby player’s ability to tackle might improve their ability to perform a similar task in football.
  • This positive relationship is most likely when the two skills or context are perceptually and conceptually similar.

Negative Transfer

  • Occurs when the learning of one skill hinders the performance or learning of another.
  • For example, a javelin thrower might find their technique negatively affects their discus throw.
  • Negative transfer is usually temporary and can be corrected with practice.

Zero Transfer

  • Occurs when the learning of one skill has no impact on the performance or learning of another.
  • This typically happens when the two skills or contexts are entirely different.
  • For example, an athlete’s ability to high jump would have zero transfer effect on their ability to swim.

Proactive Transfer

  • Happens when an earlier learned skill influences the learning of a new skill or task.
  • For example, knowledge of tennis could assist in learning badminton as both have similar rules and movements.

Retroactive Transfer

  • Happens when the learning of a new skill influences a previously learned skill or task.
  • For example, learning to kick a football may affect how an individual then kicks a rugby ball.

Bilateral Transfer

  • This is the transfer of learning from one side of the body to the other.
  • For example, being able to perform a skill with the right hand and then with the left hand.
  • This is linked to the concept of cross education, where training one limb improves the performance of the other untrained limb.

Identical Elements Theory

  • Suggests transfer of skills is dependent on the similarity of elements common to both the initial task and the transfer task.
  • The more similarity between the two tasks, the greater the level of transfer.

Transfer Appropriate Processing

  • The idea that the transfer of skills is more likely if the same cognitive processes are needed in both the initial and transfer tasks.
  • This includes similar decision making or problem-solving strategies.