Promoting Positive Transfer of Different Types

Abstract

In two experiments, we produced large instructional effects with task-specific instruction, measured four procedurally distinct kinds of transfer of the instruction, and examined the effects on transfer of adding three metacognitive instructions to task-specific instruction. One experiment studied intellectually normal children, and the other observed mentally retarded adolescents. Task-specific instruction by itself resulted in significantly different rates of three kinds of transfer for both retarded and nonretarded subjects. Our added metacognitive instructions differed in the extent to which they supported metacognitive activity, and the instruction that was least supportive resulted in less transfer by retarded than nonretarded subjects. Discussion focused on (a) the implication that common elements theory of transfer may need to be elaborated to allow for the possibility that the sharing of some kinds of elements by teaching and transfer situations promotes more transfer than sharing of other kinds of elements, (b) the potential utility of defining metacognition in a more contextualized fashion than is usual, and (c) reasons for doubting the possibility of creating a general taxonomy of transfer types.