The Development of Teaching and Social Learning Across Cultures

人类文化的变异在动物中是独一无二的，其范围，复杂性和几代人的变化。人类表现出广泛的社会习得和传播行为，这些行为在群体之间变化，并随着时间的推移而变化。社会学习的适应--获取、创造和传播文化知识--为人类文化提供了基础。这些学习机制应该是灵活的，使个人能够适应不同的文化背景。这个跨文化研究项目的目标是研究让我们学习，创造和传播文化的心理过程。将记录和解释儿童发展的连续性和变化。多种方法-观察，访谈和实验-将被用来检查跨文化的文化传播实践（教学）和获取策略（社会学习）的心理基础。该项目的合作伙伴有五位发展心理学家，两位进化人类学家和一位经济心理学家，他们都具有跨文化研究的专业知识。缺乏西方文化背景之外的系统研究是心理科学理论进步的主要障碍。发展心理科学需要一条新的前进道路，以更好地理解人类发展的全球多样性。这些研究的结果有可能通过增加对世界各地教学和社会学习实践差异的理解，为国际教育项目的发展提供信息，使教师能够适应人们学习的不同方式。该研究团队将与当地社区密切合作，在我们的国内和国际现场，有助于保存有关这些独特文化背景的信仰，价值观和实践的信息。这种研究的广度和深度将有助于加强美国和其他地方的社区，为他们展示联系，成长和适应的方式。全面的教学和早期社会学习需要系统的研究育儿的做法和信念。这项研究的目的是记录和解释的连续性和变化，在教学实践和社会学习策略内和人口之间，代表育儿做法的多样性。本研究考察了成人和同龄人的教学实践与儿童社会学习之间的相互作用。首先，自然发生的教学和社会学习的做法将使用重点以下检查，结构化的采访数据，对教学和社会学习的信念将被收集。其次，将收集标准化的观察数据，以评估成人和同龄人在模仿和联合解决问题任务的背景下的教学实践。教学实践的自然主义和标准化评估将与儿童的社会学习进行比较。观察和实验数据将进行比较，以检查在实验任务中评估的教学实践在多大程度上是在日常生活中发生的教学实践的代表。教学风格的变化取决于内容，难度，年龄和学习者的地位将被检查。这项研究将提供第一个系统的跨文化帐户的教学，由成人和同龄人和儿童的社会学习。收集观察、访谈和实验数据，将对教与学中的文化连续性和差异性产生更丰富的认识。该项目由国际科学与工程办公室共同资助。

Variation in human cultures is unique among animals in its extent, complexity, and modification over generations. Humans display a wide repertoire of socially acquired and transmitted behaviors that vary between groups and change over time. Adaptations for social learning - acquiring, creating, and transmitting cultural knowledge - provide the foundation for human culture. These learning mechanisms should be flexible, enabling individuals to respond to diverse cultural contexts. The objective of this cross-cultural research project is to study the psychological processes that allow us to learn, create, and transmit culture. Continuity and variation in child development within and across populations will be documented and explained. Multiple methods - observation, interviews, and experiments - will be used to examine the psychological foundations of cultural transmission practices (teaching) and acquisition strategies (social learning) across cultures. This project partners five developmental psychologists, two evolutionary anthropologists, and an economic psychologist, all with expertise in cross-cultural research. The dearth of systematic research outside of Western cultural contexts presents a major impediment to theoretical progress in the psychological sciences. There is a need for a new path forward in developmental psychological science to better understand global diversity in human development. The results of these studies have the potential to inform the development of international education programs by increasing understanding of variation in teaching and social learning practices around the world, allowing teachers to adapt to the diverse ways that people learn. This research team will work closely with local communities, at our domestic and international field sites, to contribute to the preservation of information about the beliefs, values, and practices of these unique cultural contexts. This breadth and depth of study will help strengthen communities in the United States and elsewhere by showing ways for them to connect, grow and adapt. A comprehensive account of teaching and early social learning requires systematic study of childrearing practices and beliefs. The objective of this research is to document and explain continuity and variation in teaching practices and social learning strategies within and across populations that represent the diversity of childrearing practices. This research examines the interaction between the teaching practices of caregiving adults and peers and children's social learning across populations. First, naturally occurring teaching and social learning practices will be examined using focused following, and structured interview data on beliefs about teaching and social learning will be collected. Second, standardized observational data will be collected to assess the teaching practices of adults and peers in the context of imitation and joint problem solving tasks. The naturalistic and standardized assessments of teaching practices will be compared to children's social learning. The observational and experimental data will be compared to examine the extent to which the teaching practices assessed in experimental tasks are representative of teaching practices that occurs in everyday life. Variability in teaching style depending on content, difficulty, and age and status of the learner will be examined. This research will provide the first systematic cross-cultural account of teaching by caregiving adults and peers and children's social learning. Collecting observational, interview, and experimental data will yield a far richer picture of cultural continuity and variation in teaching and learning. This project is co-funded by the Office of International Science and Engineering.