This article introduces the construct of indeterminacy and describes its effects on transfer in adult education. Indeterminacy is characterized as a type of stimulus-response relationship in which the stimulus evokes a response that requires secondary and/or ongoing judgments as opposed to evoking a concrete, predetermined response. Following a brief overview of research on transfer in which [the authors] highlight the neglect of a systematic study of the construct, [they] review extant literature from different disciplines in which indeterminacy has been recognized as playing an...  [+] Show more

This article introduces the construct of indeterminacy and describes its effects on transfer in adult education. Indeterminacy is characterized as a type of stimulus-response relationship in which the stimulus evokes a response that requires secondary and/or ongoing judgments as opposed to evoking a concrete, predetermined response. Following a brief overview of research on transfer in which [the authors] highlight the neglect of a systematic study of the construct, [they] review extant literature from different disciplines in which indeterminacy has been recognized as playing an important role. During this process, [the authors] distinguish it from uncertainty and ambiguity. Based on the review, [the authors] hypothesize and provide empirical evidence suggesting that indeterminacy diminishes transfer. On this basis, [the authors] argue that understanding, measuring, and controlling indeterminacy is important for the study and design of effective adult education programs.

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