It’s important to note that what matters for transfer is not every possible feature of the learning environment, such as what room you’re in or what clothes you’re wearing while you learn. Rather, it’s the cognitive features—situations where you need to make decisions about what to do and cue knowledge you’ve stored in your head. This suggests that when direct practice is impossible, a simulation of the environment will work to the degree to which it remains faithful to the cognitive elements of the task in question.
