Collaborative Research: Learning from Near and Distant Other

人们不断地向他们社交圈中的人学习。虽然这些老师通常离学生很近（与自己相似，住在附近，位于同一时间段等），但他们也可能离得很远：社交距离远，空间距离远，甚至时间距离远。本研究检验了具体知识更容易从附近的老师那里学习，而抽象知识更容易从远处的老师那里学习的假设。为了实现这一目标，pi将研究接近性对知识概念化和不同类型学习的有效性的作用。建议的研究对各种情况下的教学具有实际意义；从教育孩子的父母到希望培养抽象思维的学校。这项工作的一个实际和政策含义是，可能存在某些类型的知识（例如，抽象概念），当教师远程授课（例如，远程学习或在线课程）时，学生实际上可能学得更好。总的来说，拟议研究的社会效益将为美国教育系统未来的创新提供明确的指导。这项研究基于解释水平理论，该理论认为，人们概念化物体和事件的能力随着心理上对这些信息的接近程度而变化。研究人员将调查，除了距离远近之外，讲师的有效性是否也会因获得的知识类型而变化：1)具体知识（即“在动物收容所做志愿者”）；或者2)抽象知识（例如，“关心被遗弃的猫和狗的幸福”）。研究人员将研究邻近性（社会、空间或时间距离）和在两种教学模式下获得的知识抽象水平的作用：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理解人们如何向周围的人学习，以及心理距离对社会学习的影响如何取决于学习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.