Discuss prosocial behaviour

studies used

- Bartal, Decety and Mason (1978)

- Marshal (2014)

- Levine et al 2005

Introduction

- define pro social behaviour

- different theories about factors that impact it

- biological approach, cognitive + sociocultural approach

Bartal, Decety & Mason (2011)

- aimed to investigate if rats would actively help other rats in distress

- rat was placed into a box with a plexiglass restrainer trapping another rat, a plush toy or nothing

- rat had to apply enough force to tip over the glass

- rats that were trapped with another rates howed more activity near the restrainer, and were communicating with the other rat to successfully knock over the plexiglass

- concluded that rats behaved prosocially, in repsone to distress exhibited by the other rats

bartal evaluation

- experimental research, environment was altered to see effect on behaviour

- meaning it could be artificial due to lack of realistic situation

- animal models are often used to study human behaviours because they are similar genetically and physiologically

Marshal 2014

- based on research that states the brains of psychopaths is different than the brain of the average person, for example a reduced amygdala responsiveness to fearful facial expression and reduced amygdala volume.

- aimed to investigate if the opposite was true for "extraordinary altruists" (would they have a larger amygdala volume etc. )

- sample of 19 people (12men 7women) that had donated a kidney to stranger- 20 control participants matched for IQ, income, education, psychological history and medication use

- 3 stages

1: emotional recognition task in fMRI, shown faces of 6 basic emotions and pressed a button to indicate emotions

2: MRI scan to determine the structure of their brains

3: took tests to measure their level of psychopathy and empathy

- found that extraordinary altruists had greate average volume in the right amygdala than in the controls

- right hemisphere is associated with negative emotion

- concluded that there may be a biological basis for altruistic behaviour

marshal evalution

- reductionist argument for altruistic behaviour, as its likely a combination of biological, psychological and social factors that impact behaviour

- quasi-experiment, cause and effect relationship can't be determined

- also fMRI in tunnel could've caused anxiety and triggered activity in the amygdala

- there was informed consent, the participants were not deceived, their identities remained confidential, they were debriefed, they could withdraw.

- could be argued however, that they were not completely protected from harm because being asked to lie completely still in a noisy environment (fMRI) may have caused some anxiety.

levine 2005

- 32 males from Lancaster University, aged 18-21

- All were self-identified Manchester United supporters

- told that the experiment was about football fans in general, and that it aimed to explore the positive aspects of being a football fan

- This created a more salient, larger in-group for all football fans, not just Man United

-

conclusion

- prosocial behaviour explored in all of the studies

- demonstrates biological approach and socio-cultural approach

- a