. "3 Learning and Transfer." How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School: Expanded Edition. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2000.
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How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School
Possible Answers for Critical Problems (7, 8, 10, 11)
Problem
Einstellung Solution
Direct Solution
7
49−23−3−3=20
23−3=20
8
39−15−3−3=18
15+3=18
10
48−18−4−4=22
18+4=22
11
36−14−8−8=6
14−8=6
Performance of Typical Subjects on Critical Problems
Group
Einstellung Solution (percent)
Direct Solution (percent)
No Solution (percent)
Control (Children)
1
89
10
Experimental (Children)
72
24
4
Control (Adults)
0
100
0
Experimental (Adults)
74
26
0
SOURCE: Adapted from Luchins and Luchins (1970).
Mayer, 1988). However, many of these studies failed to assess the degree to which LOGO was learned in the first place (see Klahr and Carver, 1988; Littlefield et al., 1988). When initial learning was assessed, it was found that students often had not learned enough about LOGO to provide a basis for transfer. Subsequent studies began to pay more attention to student learning, and they did find transfer to related tasks (Klahr and Carver, 1988; Littlefield et al., 1988). Other research studies have shown that additional qualities of initial learning affect transfer and are reviewed next.
Understanding Versus Memorizing
Transfer is affected by the degree to which people learn with understanding rather than merely memorize sets of facts or follow a fixed set of procedures; see Boxes 3.3 and 3.4.
In Chapter 1, the advantages of learning with understanding were illus-
