A Study of Transfer of Training from High School Subjects to Intelligence

The problem of transfer of training is central to educational psychology. Curriculum content is frequently determined largely by the conviction of the curriculum maker that the school subjects which have been included contribute to proficiency in other subjects, to facilitation of the learning of other skills and appreciations, to development of character, or to general dis cipline of the mind. The phenomenon of transfer has been sufficiently dem onstrated; there is little doubt that it occurs. How much transfer occurs in a given situation, and how far its influence extends from the materials taught are, however, constantly debated. The friction engendered in these debates is all too often characterized by heat rather than light. Although the literature contains a great many studies of transfer, most of the studies are not accepted by educators as fully relevant to the class room situation. Laboratory experiments, whether with human or infra-human subjects, do not resemble the normal classroom situation sufficiently to con vince the teacher of their practical applicability or validity. Teachers seek, and rightly, evidence obtained under the conditions which actually prevail in their day-to-day teaching.