psy 327: mod 1-7 quizzes

How did Hobbes view the motivation behind prosocial behavior?

Prosocial behavior is primarily driven by self-preservation and fear of retaliation/punishment from some external source that enforces it - otherwise people would be selfish

Kin selection refers to …

the greater likelihood that people will help blood-related family members over others, because showing a preference for people who share one's genetic material is an impulse that can be selected for indirectly. Doing so would ensure the survival of one's kin, who share of a fraction of one's own genes (and one's own genes then would survive).

Machiavelli’s views on prosocial behavior can be interpreted as:

valuing it only insofar as it serves power and control

What is a common critique of the proximal causes of helping behavior other than egoism?

They often cannot rule out the possibility that egoistic motivations are also present.

How does the story about  “spreading fingers of friendship” demonstrate the importance of prosocial behavior? 

it illustrates the consequences of selfishness versus sharing

Which philosopher believed that humans are "noble savages" by nature, and civilization is what corrupts people?

rousseau

 Which of the following are "distal motivators" of helping?

Evolutionary factors such as kin selection and reciprocal altruism.

In class we said that based on our working definitions of terms, 

helping is a subcategory of prosocial behavior

A colleague regularly checks in with another colleague who is going through a tough time, offering support and encouragement. This type of helping behavior is:

emotional helping

You receive a call that a close friend has been hospitalized and you want to do something for their family. You organize a meal train for their family, coordinating with others to provide meals over the next few weeks, so they can still enjoy home cooked meals instead of having to order pizza every night while they are busy handling all the medical issues and visiting your friend in the hospital. According to McGuire, this represents: 

substantial personal helping

How does the concept of reciprocal altruism explain prosocial behavior, from the perspective of an evolutionary psychologist?

It proposes that natural selection might predispose people to help others who are not even genetically related to them, because people who help others receive help in return, thus ensuring their own survival.

What event significantly increased interest in empirical research on prosocial behavior within social psychology?

the murder of kitty genovese in 1964

What did we say is probably the most challenging part of the definition of prosocial behavior for psychologists who are trying to study the causes of prosocial behavior?

How broad it is (it's hard to generate an organized paradigm to explain why/when something happens, when the "something" we are trying to predict includes so many different/diverse actions.

Imagine a scenario where a person witnesses a car accident and immediately rushes to the scene to administer first aid until professional help arrives. How would this example be categorized according to Pearce and Amato's taxonomy of helping?

serious, direct, spontaneous

When assessing the "why" of helping, most evolutionary psychologists would argue that: 

natural selection has resulted in most humans being predisposed towards prosocial behavior

What did Dr. Sparks say was misleading about the way your textbook authors present the case of Kitty Genovese?

Your authors imply that all of the initially reported "facts" of the case (such as the idea that 38 witnesses heard her screams, were aware of the emergency, and did nothing) were accurate, when follow-up analysis reveals that many of the initially reported facts of the case were incorrect or unverified.

What makes psychology distinct from sociology in its approach to prosocial behavior?

Psychologists focus on what makes an individual behave in a prosocial manner, whereas sociologists focus on studying collectives

How did Aronson, Wilson, and Akert (2004) advance the definition of altruism?

They argued that if an act is altruistic, there has to not only be no benefit to the helper, but often even a cost.

According to Marx and Engels, what role does prosocial behavior play in society?

prosocial behavior should ideally take the form of a cooperative sharing arrangement, with everyone doing all they possibly can for the well-being of the group, secure in the knowledge that all their needs will be satisfied

When did McDougall publish the first social psychology textbook, and what was his primary focus regarding prosocial behavior?

1908; he argued that prosocial behavior was rooted in primary instincts and emotions.

Which of the following best describes the definition of prosocial behavior? 

Any action defined by society as generally beneficial to other people (regardless of the benefactor's intentions and regardless of whether they also benefit from performing the action)

In order for a behavior to be viewed as prosocial, the behavior needs to be:

beneficial, as agreed upon within a certain social context

A parent picks up their kid's wallet that they dropped on the floor and puts it back in the spot where they know their kid keeps it (so it will be available when their kid next needs it).  The kid is unaware that the wallet was ever dropped. This example:

fulfills the definition of prosocial behavior

According to Batson, what should be the primary focus when defining altruism?

The helper's primary internal motivation - (it should be to improve the state of another person)

What is meant by "variation" in evolutionary theory?

Differences in characteristics exist within a population, which can lead to differential survival and reproduction.

How does the severity of a situation (life or death vs. casual favor) impact whom people are likely to help, based on kin selection theory?

People are more likely to help close relatives than non-kin in all circumstances, but the preference given to kin over non-kin gets even stronger in life or death situations.

How do behavioral geneticists define heritability?

The percentage of variation in a trait that can be attributed to genetic factors.

In class, how did we say that evolutionary theorists sometimes have to discuss altruism a little differently from other social psychologists? 

focus on whether there are any observable costs to the helper when identifying potential examples of altruism, while other social psychologists are more likely to try to measure the helper's primary motivation.

What is the difference between cross-cultural and cross-species approaches to testing prosocial behavior?

Cross-cultural studies look for commonalities in behavior across different human societies, while cross-species studies look for commonalities in behavior across different species.

What ability have humans developed to make reciprocal altruism work effectively?

The ability to detect cheaters—individuals who benefit from help but do not reciprocate.

What is NOT one of the four main methods we discussed that are used to test the impact of genes on prosocial behavior? 

Interviews with individuals about their helping habits.

What prosocial emotion is considered MOST crucial for facilitating altruistic behavior, and why?

Empathy, because it allows individuals to understand and share the feelings of others, which leads to helping behavior.

What role does the ability to recognize kin play in fostering the development of altruism?

It helps individuals direct their helping behavior toward relatives, promoting gene survival.

Which is the best description of the interactionist perspective?

How strongly genes influence prosocial behavior depends on the environment in which they are being studied.

Why did Hoffman argue that newborns' crying in response to others’ distress is not true, well-developed empathy?

Newborns lack a sense of themselves as separate entities, so the distress they feel when others cry is just experienced as distress as if it's happening to them - this type of distress is thus unlikely to result in prosocial behavior towards another person.

We discussed a study where the researchers thought they found evidence for a genetic basis of prosocial behavior using a cross-cultural approach.  What were the findings/conclusions of the study we discussed in class? 

There is remarkable consistency in the frequency of requesting/granting low-stakes helping behavior in close relationships across different societies.

What is group selection theory?

The theory that groups with more cooperative members tend to survive and reproduce more successfully than less cooperative groups.

What is a major caution to keep in mind when researching genes vs. environment in prosocial behavior? 

Framing the debate as nature vs. nurture is a false dichotomy.

 What were the results of Knafo-Noam (2015) regarding prosocial behavior's heritability (when they averaged/combined many different things into one "prosocial personality" trait)?

A prosocial personality trait showed about 69% heritability.

What is an example of indirect genetic influence on prosocial behavior (Christ et al. 2015)?

Variation in oxytocin receptor genes impacts empathic concern, and empathic concern then contributes to prosocial behavior.

We said that twin studies tended to be conducted by people using what approach to find evidence for a genetic influence on altruism?

a behavioral genetics approach

What is the best explanation for why is reciprocal altruism may still considered "altruism" by evolutionary theorists, (if people get something in return? Didn't we say in class that evolutionary theorists tend to define altruism as when help is offered with observable costs and no observable benefits to the helper?)

Because the "reciprocity" or rewards granted to people who tend to behave "altruistically" isn't always necessarily immediate, known, or even explicitly agreed upon in the moment the help is offered! In the moment, the helping can still look like there is a presence of costs to the helper without a concrete or apparent/agreed upon benefit, but "selfless helpers" might still get a survival advantage when they gradually gain reputation/prestige or are more cared for by others over the long term. Reciprocal altruism doesn't just refer to helping someone in the presence of an immediately observable explicit "deal" for a known benefit!

We said that evolutionary theorists, when studying altruism, tend to measure the presence of “altruism” by….

Trying to measure the presence of observable costs to the helper

What is the challenge evolutionary psychologists face when trying to tie altruistic actions to genes?

It's difficult to directly trace something as complicated as an altruistic behavior to specific genes.

According to your book and Davis et al. (1994), which type of empathy has been found to be more heritable?

Affective empathy, which refers to emotional responses to others' distress.

According to your book, how might genes influence prosocial behavior without directly coding for it? 

Genes may predispose individuals to emotional traits like empathy, which in turn promote prosocial behavior.

 When we say we have  "found evidence of a genetic influence on a trait", does this mean we've located the one specific gene that directly codes for that trait?

No, because multiple genes can influence the same behavior, and also, finding evidence for a genetic influence may just involve finding evidence for a general genetic or even indirect genetic influence (as opposed to locating a specific gene or genes directly coding for a trait).

Babies as young as a few months old seem to prefer characters that help others instead of those who are mean to others. We might assume from these findings a genetic basis for prosocial preferences…. And this is an example of what approach?

neonate studies

What have studies shown about which grandchild receives the most help from grandparents?

Maternal grandparents, especially maternal grandmothers, tend to provide more help to grandchildren.

How do studies on twins provide evidence for kin selection?

Identical twins are more likely to help each other compared to fraternal twins due to shared genes.

People originally thought the presence of altruistic behavior suggested that evolutionary theory was not accurate, because the impulse to help another person at a cost to oneself wouldn't increase the odds of one's survival (so the persistence of altruistic impulses within the species couldn't be explained by natural selection).  How did the idea of inclusive fitness provide a response to this critique?

The idea of inclusive fitness suggested that what matters for evolutionary success is that the gene survive, not the individual organism. By helping people who are genetically related, the genes coding for that altruistic impulse could still be "selected for" if the relatives benefiting from the help (that might share those altruistic genes) are now more likely to survive.

Susan is walking through a crowded park when she notices someone fall off a bike and begin to scream in pain.  The person can not get up. Susan thinks that the person clearly needs help, but hesitates and does not IMMEDIATELY run forward, because there are so many people walking around nearby and she thinks they will step in to assist. Which concept best explains Susan's hesitation to act? 

diffusion of responsibility

While walking down a busy street, Jane hears a loud noise and sees smoke coming from a nearby building. However, since no one else seems concerned or is reacting, she assumes there must be an explanation and that everything is fine and walks away. This is an example of: 

pluralistic ignorance

In a study where a group of nurses witnessed someone fall off a ladder, they helped regardless of whether they were alone or in a group. What factor did we say probably contributed to this consistent helping behavior? 

High competence - feeling like they knew how to help (they were more likely to make it through step 4 of Darley and Latane's model!)

What does the term "stigma by association" refer to, and how does it impact helping behavior?

The fear of being judged for helping someone from a stigmatized group

What is the "norm of social responsibility," and in which cultures is it stronger?

The norm that people should help those who need it/are dependent on others; it is stronger in collectivist cultures

According to research discussed in class, compared to people in a neutral mood, people who are sad are:

Only more likely to help when the costs of helping are low and the benefits are high

At what step in the bystander intervention model does pluralistic ignorance occur?

interpreting the event as an emergency

A pedestrian is hesitant to help a bleeding victim after a car accident due to a fear of contracting a disease. Which concept best explains this hesitation?

potential personal harm

Which of the following has the least support from research?

Punishing someone after they fail to help increases the likelihood of future helping

According to the arousal: cost-reward model of helping, if people witness an ambiguous emergency that produces some arousal, but they have just taken a placebo pill that they were told would produce arousal (so they misattribute their arousal to the pill instead of the situation), they: 

will probably be less likely to help than if they were told the pill was a placebo, since they think their arousal is from the pill and not the emergency (so they think helping with the emergency won't reduce it!)

According to Batson’s empathy-altruism hypothesis, under what conditions is helping altruistic?

When the helper feels empathy (has taken on the victim's perspective and seen the world through their eyes) and is motivated by concern for the other person's welfare

Tom helps a colleague with a challenging task (for which Tom has great expertise) because Tom is feeling sad about losing his dog and he thinks it might make him feel better. Tom's motivation for helping is best explained by:

negative state relief model

If a person gives emotional support to a partner and later feels happier because of it, this would be an example of:

do good/feel good effect

Who tends to experience more lasting happiness: someone who buys something for themselves or someone who buys something for someone else?

Someone who buys for someone else

The Darley and Batson (1973) study involved seminary students who were in a hurry. What did your book say the study illustrated about helping behavior? 

People help less when they are in a hurry (compared to when not), even when they are typically helpful people and presumably thinking about how they value helpfulness

What is one research finding that supports the empathy-altruism hypothesis?

When people feel empathy, they help, even if costs are high and they could just easily avoid the situation to end their personal distress related to seeing it

What is the negative state relief model?

The idea that people help to relieve their own negative emotions

A person chooses not to intervene when they see someone fall in a crowded area because they fear being judged by the onlookers if their help is ineffective. This is an example of: 

audience inhibition

In an experiment, participants who were in a good mood after finding money were more likely to help a stranger who dropped papers. What does this best illustrate? 

Feel-good/do-good effect

If someone helps a neighbor carry their groceries up the stairs because this same neighbor helped take care of their dog in the past, which best explains this behavior? 

reciprocity norm

What is "belief in a just world," and what is its impact on helping? 

It refers to the belief that the world is just (bad things happen to bad people, good things to good people), and it increases helping when people think a victim was unfairly injured, while it decreases helping when people blame victims for their suffering

A person is more likely to help someone in a rural area than in a busy city because they are more likely to clearly see the person in need of help - they less overwhelmed by all the visual/noise distractions associated with all the activity of people around. Which factor from the bystander intervention model is this related to? 

noticing the event

Which two emotions both do NOT seem to increase helping behavior? 

self-focused grief and anger

Both sad and happy moods can increase helping behavior compared to neutral moods. Which mood tends to increase all types of helping more reliably?

happiness

What is the difference between external and internal rewards for helping behavior?

Internal rewards are emotional and based on personal satisfaction, while external rewards are tangible or social benefits

A person is more likely to help someone they find out likes the same movie as they do, compared to someone who does not. Which factor is influencing this helping behavior?

similarity

According to the Arousal: Cost Reward model, if somebody gets off the treadmill and then sees a victim in need who is easy to help (and they mis-attribute their increased heart rate to the emergency they are witnessing), they are:

probably more likely to help than if they hadn't just gotten off the treadmill - they now think they have more negative arousal being produced by the situation that they need to alleviate!

In the Racing to Help Study, the results are consistent with the arousal: cost-reward model.   Which scenario did we say was taking place in the condition where the white participants saw a black victim experience a severe emergency?

high cost to helper, high cost of "no help" to victim (redefinition of the situation, diffusion of responsibility)

What is meant by the reciprocity norm and the equity/justice norm?

The reciprocity norm is the expectation that people will help those who have helped them, while the equity/justice norm refers to fairness in distributing resources and assistance

What evidence does the mood freezing pill study provide for the negative state relief model?

People are less likely to help if they believe their mood cannot be changed

What is one thing you should do in an emergency if you want to increase the chances of getting help?

Point to a specific person and give them a direct instruction

A passerby hears a thud and looks over to their right and sees someone on the ground.     The person yells "I need help!" The passerby quickly intervenes because the person's words make it clear that the situation is an emergency. Which step in the decision model of bystander intervention did the person's yell help the passerby successfully make it through?

Interpreting the event as an emergency

How does having high empathy affect volunteerism differently for ingroup versus outgroup members? 

High empathy predicts more volunteerism for ingroup members, as people are more likely to be able to take the perspective of ingroup members.

Which of the following is a key characteristic of informal volunteers?

Their actions are not connected to formal roles.

What is organizational citizenship behavior (OCB)?

Voluntary prosocial behaviors that go beyond formal job duties, benefiting coworkers and the organization.

What is terror management, and how does mortality salience impact volunteering?

Terror management theory suggests that when people are reminded of their mortality, they seek to affirm their cultural values, which can increase prosocial behaviors like volunteering.

What is meant by “role identity” in the context of blood donation?

Role identity refers to the degree to which a person identifies with being a blood donor as part of their self-concept.

Are education and wealth correlated with higher volunteerism?

Yes, higher levels of education and wealth are correlated with increased volunteerism.

Which of the following best defines volunteering?

Long-term, unpaid service provided within a community or organization, often with no formal obligation.

According to Berkowitz's study of local heroes in community activism, what kinds of motives seemed to drive people initially to begin their activism?

A combination of altruism and some issues of personal or self-interest.

Which of the following is an example of the "Protective" motive for volunteering?

Volunteering at a crisis hotline to reduce feelings of guilt and personal distress.

What predicts who donates blood for the first time?

Social pressure and being personally asked to donate are strong predictors of first-time blood donation.

What were some of the dimensions on which individual local heroes (activists) were similar to one another, according to Berkowitz?

High energy, strong emotions, and a willingness to take risks.

What is the primary difference between volunteering and interpersonal helping?

Volunteering is usually unpaid and planned, whereas interpersonal helping is often spontaneous and driven by immediate obligation.

According to Tong, Hung, and Yuen (2011), what factor significantly predicted volunteerism?

Social connectedness and engagement.

How does a “big disaster” impact volunteering?

Big disasters generally lead to a significant increase in volunteerism, both for disaster-related causes and unrelated organizations.

Why is donating blood considered a special case of volunteerism often studied?

Donating blood requires overcoming emotional and physical hurdles that make it a unique and challenging form of volunteering.

What did Berkowitz find was the “drive” almost all activists reported that sustained their activism once it began? 

A drive to improve the lives of the collective and a determination to solve problems.

What is a significant difference between volunteerism and interpersonal helping?

Volunteerism typically lacks personal obligation, while interpersonal helping is often driven by a sense of obligation or duty.