Collaborative Research: Learning from Near and Distant Others

人们不断地从他们的社会世界中学习。虽然这些教师往往与学生关系密切（与自己相似，住在附近，位于同一时期等），它们也可能很遥远：社会上遥远，空间上遥远，甚至时间上遥远。本研究验证了一个假设，即具体的知识更容易从附近的教师，而抽象的知识更容易从遥远的教师。为了实现这一目标，PI将研究接近知识的概念化和不同类型的学习的有效性的作用。拟议的研究对各种背景下的教学具有实际意义;从父母教孩子，到学校希望培养抽象思维。这项工作的一个实际和政策影响是，可能有各种类型的知识（例如，抽象概念），其中当教师距离较远时学生实际上可以学得更好（例如，远程学习或在线课程）。总的来说，这项研究的社会效益将为美国教育系统的未来创新提供明确的指导。这项研究是基于联想水平理论，该理论认为人们对物体和事件的概念化能力因这些信息的心理接近程度而异。研究人员将调查，除了接近，是否有效的教练也将不同类型的知识获得：1）具体的知识（即，“在动物收容所做志愿者”）;或2）抽象知识（即，“关心被遗弃的猫和狗的福祉”）。研究人员将研究接近度（社会，空间或时间距离）的作用以及两种教学模式获得的知识的抽象水平：1）通过模仿或建模学习; 2）学习迁移。 研究结果将有助于更广泛地了解人们如何从周围的人那里学习，以及心理距离对社会学习的影响如何取决于所学内容的性质和学习方式。

People constantly learn from those in their social worlds. Although these teachers are often close to their students (similar to themselves, living nearby, located in the same time period, etc.), they can also be far away: socially distant, spatially distant, and even temporally distant. This research tests the hypothesis that concrete knowledge is more easily learned from nearby teachers, while abstract knowledge is more readily learned from distant teachers. To accomplish this, the PIs will examine the role of proximity on the conceptualization of knowledge and on the effectiveness of different types of learning. The proposed research has practical implications for teaching in a wide variety of contexts; from parents teaching children, to schools looking to foster abstract thinking. A practical and policy implication of this work is that there may be types of knowledge (e.g., abstract concepts) in which students may actually learn better when an instructor is distant (e.g., distance learning or online courses). Overall, the societal benefits of the proposed research will provide clear guidance on future innovations in America's educational system.This research is based on Construal Level Theory which posits that people's ability to conceptualize objects and events varies by the psychological proximity of this information. The researchers will investigate, in addition to proximity, whether the effectiveness of an instructor will also vary by the types knowledge gained: 1) concrete knowledge (i.e., "volunteering at the animal shelter"); or 2) abstract knowledge (i.e., "caring about the well-being of abandoned cats and dogs"). The researchers will examine the role of proximity (social, spatial, or temporal distance) and the level of abstraction of knowledge gained on two modes of instruction: 1) learning through imitation or modeling; and 2) learning transfer. The results will contribute to a broader understanding of how people learn from those around them and how the effects of psychological distance on social learning depend on the nature of what is learned and how it is learned.