During a learning experience, previous knowledge usually aids the learner, but sometimes interferes with the current task. Consider the learning of two skills. If the learning of skill A helps to learn skill B, positive transfer occurs. If learning skill A hinders the learning of skill B, negative transfer occurs. For example, the practice of slow flight (skill A) helps Beverly learn short-field landings (skill B). However, practice in making a landing approach in an airplane (skill A) may hinder learning to make an approach in a helicopter (skill B). It should be noted that the learning of skill B might affect the retention or proficiency of skill A, either positively or negatively. While these processes may help substantiate the interference theory of forgetting, they are still concerned with the transfer of learning. 

It is clear that some degree of transfer is involved in all learning. This is true because, except for certain inherent responses, all new learning is based upon previous experience. People interpret new things in terms of what they already know. 

Many aspects of teaching profit by this type of transfer, perhaps explaining why learners of apparently equal ability have differing success in certain areas. Negative transfer may hinder the learning of some; positive transfer may help others. This points to a need to know the learner’s past experience and current knowledge. In lesson and syllabus development, instructors can plan for transfer by organizing course materials and individual lesson materials in a meaningful sequence. Each phase should help the learner understand what is to follow. 

The cause of transfer and exactly how it occurs is difficult to determine, but no one disputes the fact that transfer occurs. For the instructor, the significance of transference lies in the fact that the learners can be helped to achieve it. The following suggestions are representative of what educational psychologists believe should be done: 

⦁ $_{Plan for transfer as a primary objective. As in all areas of teaching, the chance for success is increased if }$ the instructor deliberately plans to achieve it. 

⦁ $_{Ensure that the learners understand that information can be applied to other situations. Prepare them to }$ seek other applications. 

⦁ $_{Maintain high-order learning standards. Overlearning may be appropriate. The more thoroughly }$ the learners understand the material, the more likely they are to see its relationship to new situations. 

⦁ $_{Avoid unnecessary rote learning, since it does not foster transfer. }$ 

⦁ $_{Provide meaningful learning experiences that build confidence in their ability to transfer knowledge. This }$ suggests activities that challenge them to exercise their imagination and ingenuity in applying their knowledge and skills. 

⦁ $_{Use instructional material that helps form valid concepts and generalizations. Use materials that make }$ relationships clear. 

## Habit Formation 

The formation of correct habit patterns from the beginning of any learning process is essential to further learning and for correct performance after the completion of training. Remember, primacy is one of the fundamental principles of learning. Therefore, it is the instructor’s responsibility to insist on correct techniques and procedures from the outset of training to provide proper habit patterns. It is much easier to foster proper habits from the beginning of training than to correct faulty ones later. 

Due to the high level of knowledge and skill required in aviation for both pilots and maintenance technicians, training has traditionally followed a building block concept. This means new learning and habit patterns are based on a solid foundation of experience and/or old learning. Everything from intricate cognitive processes to simple motor skills depends on what the learner already knows and how that knowledge can be applied in the present. As knowledge and skill increase, there is an expanding base upon which to build for the future. 

## How Understanding Affects Memory 

The ability to remember is greatly affected by the level of understanding of what has been learned. Many studies have demonstrated a depth-of-processing effect on memory: the more deeply humans think about what they have learned, the more likely they are able to retrieve that knowledge later. Depth-of-processing is the natural result of the kinds of learning activities described earlier: beginning with memorized information and then elaborating upon it, making associations, constructing explanations, all in pursuit of furthering understanding. 

