Unit 4 Studies

Question 1

BLOA Prosocial Behavior (Definition + ERQ Outline)

Answer 1

• Behaviors that benefit others and build relationships
• kin selection, altruism is fitter (water striders), inborn altruism

Question 2

Kin Selection (study)

Answer 2

Madsen (2007)
- definition: you only help those you are genetically similar to
- madsen’s study found people will sacrifice themselves to protect those genetically similar
- some findings supported by naturalistic observation

Question 3

Kin Selection (MAGEC)

Answer 3

• Method: naturalistic observation;
  high ecological validity & low replicability
• ethics: consent is not given

Question 4

Altruism is Fitter (study)

Answer 4

Eldakar (2009) water-striders
- two groups of water striders with half having males reproduce as rapist and half reproducing as gentlemen to study the impacts on egg laying
- Together ingroup competition favors antisocial behaviors as the rapists eventually led to extinction of gentlemen
- between the groups the gentlemen had healthier populations and lasted longer

Question 5

Altruism is Fitter (MAGEC)

Answer 5

Ethics, ecog validity

Question 6

Inborn altruism (study)

Answer 6

Waneken & Tomasello (2006)
- confederate drops marker and shouts “my marker!”
- other tasks like closing a cabinet, reshelving a book, and correcting a flap
- found most children will perform helping behaviors when given the opportunity

Question 7

CLOA Prosocial Behavior (definition & ERQ Outline)

Answer 7

Defn: behavior that benefits others and builds relationships
- NSR model, empathy-altruism model, arousal-cost model

Question 8

Negative State Relief (study)

Answer 8

• Cialdini (1973) - defined NSR: we help others to reduce our discomfort in witnessing their distress
• supported by Lerner & Lichtman’s (1968) study where they modified Stanley Milgrim’s learner study and asked people if they wanted to trade places (50% of people said yes)
• anecdotal evidence: $470 million in Christmas 2004 Tsunami donations

Question 9

NSR (CON argument)

Answer 9

• Apsler (1975) found that anger and frustration does not increase helping behaviors
• People were given impossible tests to complete and a confederate came by saying it was easy (to piss off the participant)
• As they leave a confederate drops papers and very few help.
• Anecdotal evidence: Even Sara McLachlan the singer of the donate to dogs sad commercial song (“In the arms of the angel” changes the channel when it comes on)

Question 10

Empathy-Altruism (study)

Answer 10

Batson 1981
- Definition: personal distress (NSR) and empathetic concern will increase rates of helping
- Batson found people help more in high empathy situations as more were willing to help Carol after her accident if they believed the accident was not her fault (some were told she was hit by a drunk driver and others were told she was the drunk driver

Question 11

Empathy-Altruism (CON argument)

Answer 11

• Batson found empathy levels unpredictable, even in controlled environments
• evidence for the NSR model is more reliable than EA model tests

Question 12

Arousal-Cost Model (study)

Answer 12

Piliavin (1969)
- definition: we only help when benefits outweigh costs to self
- Piliavin’s subway experiment where a drunk man or an old man are stumbling and fall onto the tracks and results showed costs are a strong influence on helping behavior

Question 13

Arousal-Cost Model (CON argument)

Answer 13

• goes against psychological accepted definition of altruism in saying that people only help because of the benefits
• little experimental evidence as most of this model has been supported by empirical evidence and survey data