The Effects of Learning Multiple Instantiations on Transfer

The effects on transfer of learning multiple instantiations were investigated. Undergraduate college students learned one or more artificial instantiations of a simple mathematical concept. Some students were presented with instantiations that communicated concreteness relevant to the to-be-learned concept, while others learned generic instantiations involving abstract symbols. Learning one or more concrete instantiations resulted in little or no transfer. While learning one concrete and one generic instantiation did result in transfer, it offered no benefit over learning only one generic instantiation. These findings suggest that learning a generic instantiation may be a direct route to an abstract schematic representation that promotes transfer.