From expert to learner metrics of transfer: How learners’ perceived similarity predicts transfer and moderates instructional practices.
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: total = 483) with undergraduate students in the United States examined how learner-based similarity judgments relate to transfer. These studies also show how using learner-based metrics can help researchers explore how features of lessons (i.e., the richness of diagrams) influence transfer. Participants sorted the stimuli in the posttest based on their similarity either at the beginning (Study 1) or the end of the study (Study 2). Participants learned about metamorphosis using either perceptually rich or bland life cycle diagrams. After the lesson, they completed a posttest after the lesson and after a month. Both studies showed that participants' similarity judgments predict transfer. Using this metric also showed that participants were more likely to extend their knowledge to animals similar to the ladybug when they learned with the rich diagram, but to dissimilar animals when they learned with the bland diagram. This was consistent after the 1-month delay. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
DOI: 10.1037/xap0000566
Author: David Menendez
Institution: University of California, Santa Cruz
Language: English
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7124882750
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