Transfer of Training for Cognitive Skills: An Investigation of Use-Specificity

Learning a cognitive skill requires learning both procedural and declarative knowledge. Previous work on skill acquisition has argued that procedural knowledge will only transfer to tasks that use that knowledge in the same way (Singley & Anderson, 1989). However, research suggests that declarative knowledge can be transferred to new tasks regardless of use. In the current study I examine both use-specific and use-general knowledge transfer of a cognitive skill. Participants were trained on one of two skill subcomponents for solving sequence extrapolation problems (pattern detection versus pattern extrapolation) and then solved a target problem. Participants given detection training were faster to find the target pattern whereas participants given extrapolation training were faster to articulate the target sequence, and both groups were faster than a control group for their respective non-trained components of problem solving. The results suggest that participants transferred both use-specific and use-general knowledge from training to test.