Cognitive Flexibility

6Transfer of Learning and Flexibility in Childhood

Jérôme CLERC and Laureen JOSSERON

LPNC, Grenoble Alpes University, France

6.1. Introduction

Transfer of learning involves applying what has been learned to new tasks or situations in a flexible manner (Helsdingen et al. 2011, p. 383). In psychology, research on transfer emerged in the early 20th century (Thorndike 1903) and remains a vibrant field of research (Chang et al. 2019; Sydney and Thompson 2019), attesting to the importance of the phenomenon to researchers.

Studies have long focused on the transfer capacities of adults, based on paradigms that were initially associationist (Thorndike and Woodworth 1901), then behaviorist (Osgood 1949) and cognitivist (Gick and Holyoak 1980). The associationist models focused mainly on perceptual learning (estimation of geometric areas) and did not consider the need for a form of flexibility in order to successfully transfer this learning.

Behaviorist models were based on precise correspondences between stimuli and learned responses; although the concept of generalizing the response to other stimuli can be related to the transfer of learning, flexibility was not a central concern to researchers. As we shall see, it was not until the cognitivist movement that the need to be flexible in order to transfer learning became apparent. But before we get to that point, the first question is whether children can also transfer their learning.

6.1.1. The child who transfers: a little history ...