Which statement describes unfavorable transfer?

• A. Prior learning hinders the new task.
• B. Prior learning accelerates the new task.
• C. Prior learning prevents any learning.
• D. Prior learning makes no difference.

Answer: (A)

Unfavorable transfer happens when what was learned before gets in the way of learning something new. The dog brings an old habit or response into the new task, causing confusion, errors, or slower progress because the previous reaction conflicts with the new requirements.

So, the statement that prior learning hinders the new task best describes this idea. If prior learning accelerated the new task, that would be favorable transfer. If it prevented any learning or made no difference, those would describe different transfer patterns (extreme interference or neutral transfer) rather than the typical unfavorable transfer.