CHAPTER 4
LEARNING AND TRANSFER OF TRAINING
This chapter discusses learning and transfer of training theories and their implications for
creating an environment that will help trainees learn the desired outcomes from training and use
them on their jobs. To facilitate training effectively, it is critical to understand learning and how
it occurs. In this chapter, learning is defined and specific learning outcomes, e.g., intellectual
skills and motor skills, are described. Major theories of learning and motivation are presented
and their applicability to and implications for training are discussed. Goal orientation and
performance orientation are explained in the chapter. The basic learning strategies of rehearsal,
organizing, and elaboration are discussed. Learning processes are described as well as the
implications of these processes for instruction. Major implications of andragogy or adult learning
are explained in the chapter. Finally, this chapter outlines different internal and external
conditions are necessary for learning each outcome. Key terms are listed at the end of the
chapter, as are questions for discussion and application assignments.
Objectives
1. Discuss the five types of learner outcomes.
2. Explain the implications of learning theory for instructional design.
3. Incorporate adult learning theory into the design of a training program.
4. Describe how learners receive, process, store, retrieve, and act upon information.
5. Discuss the internal conditions (within the learner) and external conditions (learning
environment) necessary for the trainee to learn each type of capability.
6. Discuss the implications of open and closed skills and near and far transfer for designing
training programs.
7. Explain the features of instruction and the work environment that are necessary for learning
and transfer of training.
I. Introduction
The introduction provides an excellent example of training at Verizon, PNC Financial
Services Group, ArvinMeritor, and Colorado Springs Utilities. Regardless of the training
method, following conditions must be present for learning to occur: (1) opportunities for
trainees to practice and receive feedback, (2) offering meaningful training content, (3)
identifying any prerequisites that trainees need to successfully complete the program, and (4)
allowing trainees to learn through observation and experience and ensuring that the work
environment support learning and use of skills on the job.
A. Learning refers to a relatively permanent change in human capabilities that can include
knowledge, skills, attitudes, behaviors, and competencies that are not the result of growth
processes.
B. Transfer of training refers to trainees effectively and continually applying what they have
learned in training to their jobs.
C. Generalization refers to a trainee’s ability to apply what they learned to on-the job work
problems and situations that are similar but not necessarily identical to those problems
and situations encountered in the learning environment; i.e., the training program.
D. Maintenance refers to the process of trainees continuing to use what they learned over
time.
II. What is Learning? What is Learned?
Specific learning outcomes include:
A. Verbal information includes names, labels, facts and bodies of knowledge. It includes
specialized knowledge employees need in their jobs.
B. Intellectual skills, which include concepts and rules critical to solve problems, serve
customers and create products.
C. Motor skills, include coordination of physical movements.
D. Attitudes, include a cognitive component (i.e., beliefs), an affective component (i.e.,
feeling), and an intentional component (i.e., how a person intends to behave). Work
related attitudes include job satisfaction, organizational commitment and job
involvement.
E. Cognitive strategies, which regulate the learning processes, determine what information
the learner will attend to, how he/she will remember and how he/she will solve problems.
III. Learning Theories
A. Reinforcement Theory
The basic premise of Reinforcement Theory is that individuals are motivated to perform
or avoid behaviors because of past outcomes of those behaviors. In other words, behavior
is controlled by its consequences. Behavior modification is a training method that is
primarily based on reinforcement theory.
1. Positive reinforcement involves positively rewarding desirable behaviors.
2. Negative reinforcement means removing an unpleasant outcome to promote desirable
behaviors.
3. Extinction involves withdrawing positive or negative reinforcers to eliminate a
behavior.
4. Punishment involves decreasing a behavior by presenting an unpleasant outcome after
the behavior.
5. The training implication of reinforcement theory includes the trainer identifying what
outcomes a learner finds most positive and negative.
B. Social Learning Theory
Social Learning Theory suggests that people learn by observing other people (i.e.,
models) and attempting to emulate their behaviors. It also recognizes that behavior that is
reinforced or rewarded tends to be repeated.
1. According to the theory, learning new skills or behaviors comes from:
a. directly experiencing the consequences of using that behavior or skill.
b. the process of observing others and seeing the consequences of their behavior.
2. Learning is also influenced by self-efficacy, which is an individual’s belief that
he/she can successfully learn knowledge and skills and is an important factor in the
readiness to learn. A person’s self-efficacy can be increased several ways:
a. Verbal persuasion, which means offering words of encouragement to convince
others they are capable of learning
b. Logical verification, which means creating a perceived relationship between a
new task and a task already mastered
c. Modeling, which refers to having employees who have mastered the learning
outcomes demonstrate them for trainees
d. Past accomplishment, which means letting employees build a history of
successful accomplishments
C. Goal Theories
1. Goal Setting Theory suggests that behavior results from a person’s conscious goals
and intentions.
2. Goals influence behavior by directing energy and attention, sustaining effort over
time and motivating the person to develop strategies for goal attainment.
3. .Goals lead to high performance when one is committed to them.
4. In training, goal setting theory suggests that learning can be effectively facilitated by
setting specific, challenging goals and objectives with learners.
5. Goal orientation refers to the goals held by a trainee in a learning situation. Goal
orientation can include:
a. Learning orientation, relates to trying to increase ability or competence in a task.
b. Performance orientation refers to a focus of learners on task performance and how
they compare to others.
6. Ways to create a learning orientation in trainees:
a. Setting goals around learning and experimenting with new ways of having
trainees perform trained tasks rather than emphasizing trained-task performance.
b. Deemphasizing competition among trainees.
c. Creating a community of learning.
d. Allowing trainees to make errors and to experiment with new knowledge, skills,
and behaviors during training.
D. Need Theories
A need is a deficiency that a person is experiencing at a given point in time; it motivates a
person to behave in a manner to satisfy the deficiency. Need Theories help to explain the
value that a person places on certain outcomes.
1. Maslow and Alderfer’s need theories focused on physiological needs, relatedness
needs, and self-growth needs. Both believed that individuals are at first motivated to
satisfy lower-level (i.e., physiological) needs, then progress up to higher-level needs.
2. The major difference between Alderfer’s and Maslow’s hierarchies of needs is that
Alderfer allows the possibility that if higher-level needs are not satisfied, employees
will refocus on lower-level needs.
3. McClelland’s Need Theory focuses primarily on the needs for achievement,
affiliation and power, all of which can be learned.
4. Need theories suggest that to motivate learning, trainers should attempt to understand
learners’ needs and explain how the training will help them meet their needs.
5. If certain basic needs of trainees are not met, they are unlikely to be motivated to
learn.
6. An implication of need theory relates to providing employees with a choice of
training programs to attend.
E. Expectancy Theory
Expectancy Theory suggests that behavior is based on three factors:
1. Expectancy, similar to self-efficacy, is the link between trying to perform and actually
performing.
2. Instrumentality is the belief that engaging in a behavior (e.g., attending training) will
result in the desired outcome (e.g., mastering the behavior or skill).
3. Valence is the value that one places on that outcome.
4. From a training context, expectancy theory says that learning is best facilitated when
trainees believe they can master the knowledge or skill, when learning is linked to
outcomes such as improved job performance or a pay raise, and when the trainees
value the outcomes they perceive.
F. Adult Learning Theory
Adult Learning Theory also called andragogy, as opposed to pedagogy or the theory of
educating children is the model of how adults learn.
1. The theory, most often linked to Malcolm Knowles, is based on the following
assumptions:
a. Adults have the need to know why they are learning something.
b. Adults have a need to be self-directed.
c. Adults bring more work-related experiences into the learning situation.
d. Adults enter into a learning experience with a problem-centered approach to
learning.
e. Adults are motivated to learn by both extrinsic and intrinsic motivators.
2. This theory is particularly applicable to training because learning in the workplace
involves adult learners most of whom have not spent a majority of their time in a
formal education setting.
G. Information Processing Theory
1. Information Processing Theory Compared to other learning theories, information
processing theories give more emphasis to the internal processes that occur when
training content is learned and retained.
2. The theory proposes that information taken in by the learner undergoes several
transformations in the brain: A message is received by the senses; registered; stored
in short-term memory; transformed to be stored in long-term memory; and a response
to the message is organized. The final link in the model is feedback from the
environment. This model highlights how external events, such as the following,
influence learning:
a. Changes in the intensity or frequency of the stimulus that affect attention
b. Informing the learner of the objectives to establish an expectation
c. Enhancing perceptual features of the material (stimulus) draws the attention of the
learner to certain features
d. Verbal instructions, pictures, diagrams, and maps suggest ways to code the
training content so that it can be stored in memory
e. Meaningful learning context (examples, problems) creates cues that facilitate
coding
f. Demonstration or verbal instructions help organize the learners’ response as well
as facilitate the selection of the correct response
IV. Transfer of Training Theory
A. Closed skills refer to training objectives that are linked to learning specific skills that are
to be identically produced by the trainee on their job.
B. In contrast, open skills are linked to more general learning principles. For example,
customer service skills are examples of open skills.
C. Three theories of transfer of training have implications for training design (the learning
environment): the theory of identical elements, the stimulus generalization approach, and
the cognitive theory of transfer.
D. Theory of Identical Elements
The theory of identical elements proposes that transfer of training occurs when what is
being learned in the training session is identical to what the trainee has to perform on the
job.
E. Stimulus Generalization Approach
The stimulus generalization approach suggests that the way to understand the transfer of
training issue is to construct training so that the most important features or general
principles are emphasized. It is also important to identify the range of work situations in
which these general principles can be applied. The stimulus generalization approach
emphasizes far transfer.
F. Cognitive Theory of Transfer
According to the cognitive theory of transfer, the likelihood of transfer depends on the
trainees’ ability to retrieve learned capabilities. This theory suggests that the likelihood of
transfer is increased by providing trainees with meaningful material that enhances the
chances that they will link what they encounter in the work environment to the learned
capability.
V. The Learning Process
A. Mental and Physical Processes
1. Expectancy refers to the mental state, including motivation to learn, basic skills and
an understanding of the purpose of the instruction, which learners bring to the
instructional process.
2. Perception is the ability to organize messages from the environment to be processed
and acted upon.
3. In working storage, rehearsal and repetition of information occur so that material can
be coded for memory.
4. Semantic encoding is the actual coding process of incoming messages.
5. Different learning strategies influence how training content is coded. Learning
strategies include rehearsal, organizing, and elaboration. Rehearsal is the simplest
learning strategy focusing on learning through repetition (memorization). Organizing
requires the learner to find similarities and themes in training materials. Elaboration
requires the trainee to relate the training material to other more familiar knowledge,
skills, or behaviors.
6. Trainees use a combination of these strategies to learn.
7. The “best” strategy depends on the learning outcome.
a. For knowledge outcomes, rehearsal and organization are most appropriate.
b. For skill application, elaboration is necessary.
8. Retrieval refers to the identification of learned material in long-term memory to
influence performance.
9. Generalizing is the ability to adapt what is learned to use in similar but not identical
situations.
10. Gratifying refers to the feedback the learner receives as a result of using what is
learned.
B. The Learning Cycle
Learning can be considered a dynamic cycle that involves four stages: concrete
experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active
experimentation.
1. The key to effective learning is to be competent in each of the four stages.
2. The four learning styles include diverger, assimilator, converger, and accommodator.
a. The diverger uses concrete experience and reflective observation. A diverger
tends to be interested in people, culture, and the arts.
b. An assimilator uses abstract conceptualization and also reflective observation. An
assimilator is good at inductive reasoning, creating theoretical models, and
combining disparate observations into an integrated explanation.
c. A converger uses abstract conceptualization and active experimentation, and
prefers dealing with technical tasks rather than interpersonal issues.
d. An accommodator uses concrete experience and active experimentation, and is
good at implementing decisions, carrying out plans, and getting involved in new
experiences.
C. Implications of the Learning Process and Transfer of Training for Instruction
1. Instruction refers to the trainer’s manipulation of the environment in order to help
trainees learn.
2. The objectives refer to the purpose and expected outcomes of the training activities.
Individuals learn best when they understand the training objective(s) which need to be
measurable. It has three components:
a. A statement of what the employee is expected to do or know (i.e., performance)
b. A statement of the quality or level of acceptable performance (i.e., criterion)
c. A statement of the conditions under which the learner is expected to perform the
desired outcome (i.e., conditions)
3. Employees are more likely to learn when the training is linked to current job
experiences and tasks, for that has meaning for them. Also, the training context
should mirror the work environment. The training context refers to the physical,
intellectual, and emotional environment in which training occurs.
4. Practice refers to the physical or mental rehearsal of a task, knowledge, or skill to
achieve proficiency in performing the task or skill or demonstrating the knowledge.
a. It gives the learner the opportunity to demonstrate the learned skill or behavior
under the specified conditions and to the performance standard determined. It
must be related to the learning objectives.
b. For practice to be effective, it needs to actively involve the trainee, include
overlearning (repeated practice), take the appropriate amount of time, and include
the appropriate unit of learning (amount of material).
c. Pre-practice conditions can be used by trainers to enhance learner’s motivation to
learn and facilitate retention of training content.
1) Before practice, the trainer can provide information about the process or
strategy; encourage trainees to develop a strategy metacognition which refers
individual control over one’s thinking.
2) Monitoring and control are the two ways by which an individual can engage
in metacognition, and also provide advance organizers i.e., outlines, texts,
diagrams, and graphs that help trainees organize the information that will be
presented and practiced.
3) Trainers should also help trainees set challenging mastery or learning goals;
create realistic expectations for the trainees by communicating what will occur
in training, and while training employees in teams, communicate performance
expectations and clarify roles and responsibilities of team members.
d. Learning will not occur if employees practice only by talking about what they are
expected to do.
e. Overlearning involves continuing to practice the new skill or behavior beyond the
point at which the learner has demonstrated proficiency more than once. This
maximizes the likelihood that what is learned will transfer back to the job.
Research suggests that from a training perspective, errors can be useful. Error
management training refers to giving trainees the opportunities to make errors
during training.
f. Massed practice conditions are those in which individuals practice a task
continuously without rest. In spaced practice conditions, individuals are given rest
intervals within the practice session. Effectiveness of massed versus spaced
practice varies by the characteristics of the task. Task characteristics include
overall task complexity, mental requirements, and physical requirements.
g. One option with performing training is all tasks or objectives should be practiced
at the same time (whole practice). Another option is that an objective or task
should be practiced individually as soon as each is introduced in the training
program (part practice). It is probably best to employ both whole and part practice
in a training session.
h. Practice conditions must involve the actions emphasized in the training objectives
be completed under the conditions specified in the training objectives, help
trainees perform to meet the criteria or standard that was set, provide some means
to evaluate the extent to which trainees’ performance meets the standards, and
allow trainees to correct their mistakes.
5. Employees need to commit training content to memory.
a. Ways in which trainers can help employees store knowledge, skills, behavior, and
other training in long-term memory:
1) Make trainees aware of how they are creating, processing, and accessing
memory.
2) To create long-term memory, training programs must be explicit on content
and elaborate on details.
a) Long term memory can be created by creating a concept map and by using
multiple forms of review.
b) Teaching key words, a procedure, or a sequence, or providing a visual
image gives trainees another way to retrieve information.
c) Reminding trainees of knowledge, behavior, and skills that they already
know that are relevant to the current training content creates a link to long-
term memory that provides a framework for recalling the new training
content.
d) External retrieval cues can be used.
3) Over learning can help in retaining information in long-term memory.
b. Once trainees correctly demonstrate a behavior or skill or correctly recall
knowledge, it is often assumed that they have learned it, but this is not always
true.
c. Overlearning also helps to automize a task. Automatization refers to making
performance of a task, recall of knowledge, or demonstration of a skill so
automatic that it requires little thought or attention.
6. Employees need feedback, is information about how well they are meeting the
training objectives.
7. The feedback should be specific and should follow the behavior as closely as
possible.
8. Employees learn by observing and interacting with others.
Communities of practice are groups of employees who work together, learn from
each other and have a common sense about how to get work accomplished.
a. It improves communication.
b. Participation being voluntary, some employees may not share their knowledge
unless the organizational culture supports participation.
9. Training administration is the coordination of activities before, during, and after the
training program.
Training administration involves activities such as:
a. Communicating courses and programs to employees.
b. Enrolling employees in courses and programs.
c. Preparing and processing pretraining instruction materials.
d. Preparing materials that will be used in instruction.
e. Arranging for the training facility and room.
f. Testing equipment that will be used in instruction.
g. Having backup equipment should equipment fail.
h. Providing support during instruction.
i. Distributing evaluation materials.
j. Facilitating communications between trainer and trainees during and after
training.
k. Recording course completion in the trainees’ training records or personnel files.
D. Encourage Trainee Responsibility and Self-Management
Self-management refers to a person’s attempt to control certain aspects of decision
making and behavior. Training programs should prepare employees to self-manage their
use of new skills and behaviors on the job.
E. Ensure That the Work Environment Supports Learning and Transfer
1. Obstacles in the work environment that can inhibit learning and transfer of training
include (1) lack of support from peers and managers and (2) factors related to the
work itself (e.g., time pressure).
2. Lapses take place when the trainee uses previously learned, less effective capabilities
instead of trying to apply the capability emphasized in the training program.
3. One way to ensure that learning and transfer of training occurs is to ensure that the
climate for transfer is positive. Climate for transfer refers to trainees’ perceptions
about a wide variety of characteristics of the work environment that facilitate or
inhibit the use of trained skills or behavior.
VI. Instructional Emphasis for Learning Outcomes
A. Different internal and external conditions are necessary for learning each outcome.
B. Internal conditions are processes within the learner that are necessary for learning to
occur.
C. External conditions are processes in the learning environment, such as appropriate
physical learning environment as well as opportunities for practice, feedback and
reinforcement, which are necessary for learning to occur.
Chapter Summary
Training is the facilitation of learning in the workplace. Learning must occur for training to be
effective. The chapter defines learning and highlights some major theories of learning, including
reinforcement theory, social learning theory, goal setting theory, need theories, expectancy
theories, adult learning theory and information processing theory. The learning process,
involving internal processes and external processes, was discussed as was the basic process of
instructional design. Important elements of instruction include making the learner aware of why
he/she should learn, making the content meaningful, providing opportunities for practice and
feedback, a logical program and an environment conducive to learning. Processes of learning,
external instructional events, and finally instructional emphasis for learning outcomes were also
presented in the chapter.