The adaptation of one skill set in a particular context to a new and different context.

Soft transfers entail contexts that are similar, while hard transfers depend on deliberate abstraction from one context to another.

An example of a soft transfer would occur when a student new to Social Work creates a References page in APA format, using the skills previously learned for creating a Works Cited page in MLA format. A hard transfer occurs when a student writes a historiography essay using the skills learned when writing a literacy narrative.