The Effect of Context on Training: Is Learning Situated?*

This paper addresses issues associated with transfer of training; in particular, the importance of mimicking the contexts of application during training: When will a skill transfer from one situation of application to another, and what aspects of training affect a learner's ability to transfer the learning to new situations? Although there exist many examples of failure to show good transfer of training, the failures are more surprising and tend to mask the successes. With appropriate training there is generalization to a variety of contexts. Such training should include variable contexts during instruction, concrete examples, and abstract rules and procedures. Claims made by proponents of Situated Learning Theory suggest that training must be done in the context of the situation of application. We agree that learning is unlikely to transfer if taught in only one context with no examples from other contexts; however, because it is difficult to anticipate all future contexts of application, trainers are advised not to so constrain instruction. Although training and transfer should have identical elements, there is evidence that part-whole training is often the appropriate method of instruction. This argues against apprenticeship learning during early stages of acquisition for many skills. Further, too much fidelity in simulation may lack cost effectiveness and may even be detrimental to the early acquisition process. * This report is a slightly modified version of chapter 3: Transfer: Training for Performance, in D. Druckman and R.A. Bjork (Eds.), Learning, Remembering, Believing: Enhancing Human Performance, pp. 25-56. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.