Which one of the following illustrates positive transfer?
A) Robert is trying to learn the spelling of the word shepherd. He remembers that he learned to spell tomcat by putting two words together and so writes "sheepherd."
B) Vince notices that rules of grammar are not always the same in English and Japanese.
C) Zelda uses the formula for calculating the area of a circle when she wants to know how much bigger a 10-inch pizza is than a 7-inch pizza.
D) David is trying to learn to program a computer. He reads his programming manual but is confused by some of its instructions.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Using the formula for calculating the area of a circle to find the area of a pizza is an example of positive transfer because Zelda applied her knowledge about one concept (the area of a circle) to understand another concept (the area of a pizza). The other options do not demonstrate positive transfer. Option A is an example of negative transfer, as Robert's previous knowledge about spelling tomcat incorrectly influenced his spelling of shepherd. Option B is an example of zero transfer, as Vince's observation that grammar rules differ between English and Japanese does not impact his understanding of either language. Option D does not provide enough information to determine if it is an example of transfer at all.

Which One of the Following Illustrates Positive Transfer