Task, person, and experiential characteristics drive the transfer of learning

The ability to transfer skills is critical for complex performance. However, performance in complex environments is often examined within single levels of analysis, neglecting interactions among characteristics of the task, person, and experience. Here, we examine how intervention-level factors (task consistency, stress), between-person differences (emotion-cognition traits, physiological traits), and within-person fluctuations (amount of practice) jointly influence transfer. Across six rounds of a gamified learning task, participants (N = 241) trained under stress or control conditions and in consistent or inconsistent task environments. They then either continued or switched to the other task environment. Results revealed that task consistency enhanced efficiency during learning, but switching to an inconsistent environment disrupted performance. Patterns in pre- to post-switch performance were shaped by physiological reactivity and emotion-cognition traits, including cognitive reappraisal and intolerance of uncertainty, revealing compensatory adaptations that group-level analyses may obscure. These findings advance existing transfer models by highlighting how emotional and physiological regulation interact with environment.