An English teacher taught their students that plural of Cat is Cats, plural of House is Houses, plural of Pen is Pens, in this manner student by mistake made plural of Mouse as Mouses. This is the example of which type of transfer of learning ?

Question

Accepted Answer

The student's mistake of pluralizing "Mouse" as "Mouses" is a clear example of **Negative Transfer**. Here's why:

*   **Why Option 2 (Negative Transfer) is correct:** Negative transfer occurs when prior learning interferes with new learning. In this case, the student has learned the general rule of adding "-s" to form the plural of nouns (Cat -> Cats, House -> Houses, Pen -> Pens). This previously learned rule, while generally correct, is incorrectly applied to the word "Mouse," resulting in the incorrect pluralization "Mouses." The established rule *hinders* the student from learning the correct irregular plural form ("Mice"). The prior knowledge negatively impacts the new learning.

*   **Why Option 1 (Positive Transfer) is incorrect:** Positive transfer happens when prior learning facilitates or helps in new learning. If the student's previous knowledge *helped* them learn the plural of "Mouse," it would be positive transfer. Since the rule hindered the learning, it's not positive transfer.

*   **Why Option 3 (Zero Transfer) is incorrect:** Zero transfer implies that prior learning has no impact (neither positive nor negative) on new learning. The student's prior knowledge of pluralization rules *did* have an impact; it led to an error. Therefore, it's not zero transfer.

*   **Why Option 4 (Vertical Transfer) is incorrect:** Vertical transfer involves learning skills at one level that are necessary for learning more advanced skills at a higher level. This scenario doesn't involve a hierarchy of skills. It's simply the misapplication of a learned rule to a new situation. Therefore, it's not vertical transfer.