Department of Psychology 2017-2018 Colloquium Series

I present an overview of construal level theory and then address from its perspective two fundamental questions about human learning: How broadly we generalize what we learn and how large is the scope of experience that we choose to learn from. A series of studies on predictive learning suggests that introducing longer distance (longer delay/lower probability) between the predictor and the outcome, as well as between the learning experience and its anticipated application increases generalization breadth. I also show some evidence suggesting that people extract broader, more general lessons from narratives that are more spatio-temporally distal and hypothetical.  A series of studies on decision making suggests that people seek to obtain more and broader experience when they face a more abstract question, as well as when they make decisions that are more distal in time and when they advise others rather than make decisions for themselves.