Negative transfer of training is also known as:

Question

Accepted Answer

The correct option is (4):
Negative transfer of training is also correctly identified as **Habit interference**. This concept is central to the study of motor learning and describes a situation where a previously acquired skill, or an established motor pattern (an "old habit"), actively obstructs, hinders, or makes it more difficult to learn or perform a new skill. The interference arises because the required response in the new learning task is incompatible with the habitual response learned in the old task, causing a conflict. For instance, the difference in wrist action required to serve in tennis versus serving in volleyball can lead to this type of interference, where the pre-existing tennis habit makes the new volleyball skill harder to master. This conflict between the old and new motor programs directly translates to the term habit interference.

The incorrect option is (1) Neutral transfer and (2) Zero transfer:
Both neutral transfer and zero transfer are synonymous terms used to describe a situation where the learning or practice of one skill has absolutely no discernible influence—neither positive nor negative—on the learning of a second, distinct skill. This non-relationship occurs when the two tasks share very few, if any, common elements, principles, or movement components. In such cases, the previous "habit" is completely irrelevant to the new task, so it neither helps (positive transfer) nor obstructs (negative transfer). Therefore, zero or neutral transfer represents the *absence* of a transfer effect, which is conceptually opposite to the *active hindrance* implied by negative transfer or habit interference.

The incorrect option is (3) Bilateral transfer:
Bilateral transfer, sometimes called cross-education, is a specific form of **positive transfer** of training. It refers to the phenomenon where the acquisition or improvement of a skill with one side of the body (typically the dominant limb) leads to an automatic, unpracticed improvement in the same task when performed with the opposite limb. For example, improving throwing accuracy with the right arm often results in an uncoached improvement in throwing accuracy with the left arm. This effect demonstrates a positive facilitating influence across the body's midline and is fundamentally a helpful (positive) transfer, not a hindering (negative) or interfering one.