PSY2004 W10 Prosocial Behaviour & Altruism (L)

Question 1

What is prosocial behvaiour?

Answer 1

Voluntary behaviour intended to benefit another e.g., comforting, helping, sharing, providing helpful information

Question 2

What is altrusim?

Answer 2

Prosocial behaviour that is performed for unselfish motives
(i.e., has no benefit to oneself, even in the long run

Much research shows that children engage in more prosocial behaviours with age (Eisenberg & Fabes, 1998)
Studies nonetheless demonstrate altruism in infancy is not uncommon (Warneken, & Tomasello, 2009)

Question 3

How does comforting develop?

Answer 3

Infants increasingly show comforitng behaviour between 1 and 2 years. By 3 years children show reasoned responsiveness to distress.
Individual differences incomforting may stem from difering affective responses to others distress.

Question 4

How does sharing develop?

Answer 4

Infants share afflictively by 1yr and start to share resources by 2yrs.
3-year-olds are typically self-maximising but cross all cultures they tend towards fairness and disadvantageous inequity aversion by 5yrs.

Self-maximisation, advantageous inequity aversion and strong reciprocity are more culturally variable.

Non-human apes share, but in more specific contexts.

Question 5

Is prosociality and altruism unique to human?

Answer 5

The timing of decelopments in prosociality might be crucial in explaining differences between species.

Question 6

What does helping address?

Answer 6

instrumental needs

Question 7

What does sharing address?

Answer 7

material needs/desire

Question 8

What does comforting address?

Answer 8

negative emotional state

Question 9

When does comforting increase?

Zahn-Waxler et al 1992

Answer 9

The rate with which children comfort others who are in pain or distress (rather than reacting with distress themselves) increases over the second year of life

Question 10

How do individual difference affecting comforting behaviour?

Zahn-Waxler et al. 1992

Answer 10

Recorded the reaction to distressed adults. Heritability estimates indicate that genetic factors have a mdoest role in explaining toddler’s proscial actions adn conern. They suggest genes might infleunce neurohormonal system. This infleunces affective responses to others’ distress. Those who are not overwhelmed by the emotions they experience are more likely to feel symoathy. Those who are not inhibited are more likly to act on thier symoathetic feelings. A child may struggle to process or act on emotion thus seemingly showing no concern.

Question 11

Do chimpanzees show comforting behaviours?

Answer 11

Chimpanzees do comfort/reassure others. But at later in development than humans (Bründl et al., 2021). Part of understanding human prosociality may be when certain abilities emerge in development as opposed to solely “if”

Question 12

What types of behavior are ways infant help others?

Answer 12

Informing others, active assistance

Question 13

How do chidlren informe other when helping?

Liszkowski et al 2008

Answer 13

1YO help others by pointing informatively. When an adult didn’t see where a desired object went vs when they did. Communication helps others achieve instrumental goals even without physical assistance.

Question 14

How do children actively assiste?

Warneken & Tomasello (2006)

Answer 14

18 MTH help others in simple tasks. In these tasks, the adult feigns a need for help
18- months old might not have yet been taught helping behvaiour – discussion (disagreements)

Question 15

Do chimanzees and Bonobos help?

Answer 15

Chimpanzees also help in similar situations where it is easy for them to infer what the person’s goal is
There are some debates over chimpanzee prosociality, with the majority view being that chimpanzees (and bonobos) do display prosocial helping (Melis, 2018)

Question 16

I

Is altruism an innate tendency?

Answer 16

Warneken & Tomasello, 2009
Yes, because infants display helping from early in development and extrinsic motivation inhibits helping behaviour. Plus, chimpanzees also help others when it is easy to infer their goal.

Dahl & Paulus, 2018
Not exactly, because early helping can be explained by a motivation for social interaction rather than altruism

Question 17

Does material reward impact prosocial behaviour (altruism)?

Warneken & Tomasello 2008

Answer 17

1st phase: 20months had the change to help an adult. If they did the adult provided a response (gave them a material reward, praised them, responded neutrally)
2nd phase: chidlren were again give opportunity to help the adult. Were less likely in reward condition (extrinsic motivator) Praise did not function as a varbal reawrd (focuses on intrinsic motivation)
Highlights importance of intrinsic motivation to altruistic action - undermined by extrinsic motivation

Question 18

What are the motivational sources for prosical behaviour?

Answer 18

Empathic concern
Gratitude and Guilt
Obligation

Question 19

How is empathic concern a source of motivatio for prosociallity?

Answer 19

a sincere concern for other’s wellbenig.

Question 20

How is gratitude and guilt a motivational souce of prosociality?

Answer 20

graditude sustained proscial interaction snad reinforces reciprocity. Guilt motivates repair of reuptured social relations.

Question 21

How is obligation a motivation for prosociality?

Answer 21

commitments create a sense of social obligation: norms create an expectation of altruistic behaviour.

Question 22

Do apes share?

Answer 22

more common in bonobos.
Bonobos voluntarily hand food to others but not toys or tools (Krupenye et al., 2018).
Female chimps have been known to share food (Gruber & Clay, 2016)

Question 23

What is altruism?

Answer 23

“Acts motivated by the welfare of others” (Dahl & Paulus, 2018)
=/= Prosocial behaviour can be for selfish purposes

Question 24

Is there evidence of altruism in children?

Answer 24

Toddlers help others even anonymously. They help whether the adult is there to watch.
2YO remedy unnoticed accients, like picking up a dropped object.
Proactive rather than solely reactive prosociality. Even when engaged in an interesting task of their own.

Question 25

What did Blake et al. 2015 examine?

Answer 25

Attitudes to fairness from 4 to 15Y in 7 diverse societies.
Peer receives more than self or self receives more than peer conditions.
Disadvantageous inequity aversion emerged across all populations by middle childhood.
Advantageous inequity aversion was more variable, emerging in three populations and only later in development

Question 26

When do children starte to care about fairness adn reciprocity?

Answer 26

Around 3 years, children start to become more discerning about who should benefit from their acts of kindness.

Olson & Spelke 2008
children think peopel should prefer to share resources with: family and friends, people who have shared with them [reciprocity] people who have shared with others [indirect reciprocity] but strong reciprocity.
Sacrificing resources to punish, as well as to reward (Robbins and Rochat, 2011 game based around coins (poker chips) that children could trade for small prizes - see bonus slides)

Question 27

When do infants start sharing?

Answer 27

18 months infant starte to share resources. Initially, this requires heavy scaffolding from adults (Brownell et al., 2013). At 18 months this behaviour is not very common, rarely spontaneous and not very generous.

By 24 months infants start to share more quickly, more often, with less prompting and more generously. Driven by increased social udnerstanding.

Question 28

When do infants share attention and interest?

Answer 28

6 months

Question 29

When do infants start to actively give objects?

Answer 29

9 to 10 months
This arguably sets the stage of notions of mine and yours.

Question 30

How to promote helping?

Pettygrove et al. 2013

Answer 30

Caregivers promote helping behaviour using different methods
1 phases: 18 and 30 months hlped thier mum clean up.
Maternal helping promotion bbhevaiours were recorded and children then had the change to help another adult. Certain style of caregiver behaviour predicted infants likelihood of helping another adult with defference depending on age.
18M: diretive commands or requestion.
30 M Scaffolding

Question 31

What does scaffolding provide?

Answer 31

Scaffolding Providing support such as emotional regulation, making child’s actions relevant in the activity (rating scale 0 – 4)

Question 32

What appraoches to promote helping didn’t help?

Answer 32

Reasoning: Explaining the need: “We need to tidy up to have space to play a new game.”. At 30 months children didn’t yet have reasoning skills required

Praise: Positive comments. “Well done, great tidying!”. Perhaps too open ended/generic- though may promote self-esteem

Character attribution: Comments on child characteristics. “You’re so good at helping!”. May promote self-esteem, but not helping