PSYC528 – Prosocial Behaviour Vocabulary
Prosocial behavior is voluntary and benefits others, differing from antisocial behavior. It includes helping, informing, comforting, and sharing.
Helping:
Infants spontaneously offer help, such as picking up objects (Warneken & Tomasello, 2006).
Studies show even at 18 months, infants help others achieve goals irrespective of rewards, indicating genuine altruism.
Research by Hepach et al. (2016) suggests that children help because they want needs fulfilled, not just to restore order.
Svetlova et al. (2010) found prosocial behavior evolves from action-based to emotion-based, understanding subtle emotional cues.
Warneken (2013) notes that children proactively correct accidents at 2 years.
Hepach et al. (2016) observes that toddlers' helping isn't limited to adults but extends to peers.
Informing:
Involves sharing useful information, starting with pointing gestures around 10-12 months.
Liszkowski et al. (2006) found that by 12 months, infants point to objects others are looking for.
Comforting:
Requires empathy and understanding of others' distress.
Zahn-Waxler et al. (1992; 2001) showed that empathy increases and becomes less self-centered over time.
Vaish et al. (2009) indicated that at 18 months, children show sympathy through affective perspective-taking.
Hepach et al. (2012) discovered that by 3 years, children consider whether distress is justified before responding with sympathy.
Sharing:
Requires understanding fairness.
Studies by Schmidt & Sommerville (2011), Geraci & Surian (2011), Meristo (2012), Sloane et al. (2012), and Sommerville (2013) indicate preverbal infants expect equal resource allocation and prefer fair distributors.
Here are some university essay questions based on the provided notes and studies, along with guidance on how to approach them:
Essay Question: Critically evaluate the claim that prosocial behavior is primarily driven by intrinsic motivation in early childhood. Refer to empirical studies and theoretical perspectives in your response.
How to Answer:
Start by defining prosocial behavior and intrinsic motivation.
Discuss studies by Warneken & Tomasello (2008) on helping and the impact of rewards, and similar research on sharing. Do external rewards undermine intrinsic motivation?
Consider alternative perspectives: Are there other motivations at play? Discuss the nature vs. nurture debate. Reference evolutionary, reciprocity, and individual approaches. Are there alternative explanations?
Conclude by summarizing the evidence and offering a balanced assessment. Are intrinsic motivations enough, or do other factors play a role?
Essay Question: To what extent does the development of prosocial behavior in early childhood depend on empathic understanding? Use evidence from developmental psychology to support your argument.
How to Answer:
Define prosocial behavior and empathic understanding.
Explain the progression from action-based to emotion-based helping, referencing Svetlova et al. (2010). How do emotional cues come into play?
Discuss the roles of sympathy and affective perspective-taking, citing Vaish et al. (2009) and Zahn-Waxler et al. (1992; 2001).
Consider the limitations of relying solely on empathy. Is empathic understanding always necessary for prosocial acts? Include considerations of instrumental helping, which is action-based. Discuss whether children consider if distress is justified (Hepach et al., 2012).
Summarize the interplay between empathy and prosocial behavior, acknowledging other contributing factors.
Essay Question: Compare and contrast the manifestations of prosocial behavior in human infants and chimpanzees. What insights can be gained from comparative studies about the origins and nature of altruism?
How to Answer:
Define prosocial behavior and altruism.
Outline the similarities and differences in helping, informing, comforting, and sharing between human infants and chimpanzees, based on the notes.
Discuss the potential reasons for these differences. Are they related to captive vs. wild environments, reward structures, or other factors?
Discuss evolutionary underpinnings of prosocial behavior. Is it kin selection, group selection, or something else?
Conclude by synthesizing the comparative evidence to draw broader conclusions about the origins and nature of altruism.
Essay Question: Critically discuss the role of fairness in the development of prosocial behavior in early childhood. Refer to relevant research on sharing and resource allocation to support your argument.
How to Answer:
Define prosocial behavior and fairness, particularly in the context of resource allocation.
Discuss studies on infants’ expectations of equal resource distribution (Schmidt & Sommerville, 2011; Geraci & Surian, 2011; Meristo, 2012; Sloane et al., 2012; Sommerville, 2013).
Consider the development of sharing behaviors and the understanding of ownership.
Discuss how children allocate resources among third parties and their preferences for sharing with others.
Discuss the knowledge behavior gap and other challenges with sharing fairly with others
Conclude by considering the extent to which fairness drives prosocial behavior, relative to other motivations such as empathy or social expectations.
Summary
Prosocial behavior is voluntary and meant to help others, unlike antisocial behavior. It shows up in different ways like helping, informing, comforting, and sharing.
Helping:
Infants start helping early, like picking up things for others (Warneken & Tomasello, 2006). Even at 18 months, they help others reach goals without needing a reward, which shows they're genuinely trying to be helpful.
Studies:
Warneken & Tomasello (2006): Infants help by picking things up.
Hepach et al. (2016): Kids help 'cause they want needs met, not tryna restore order.
Svetlova et al. (2010): Prosocial behavior evolves from action to emotion-based.
Warneken (2013): Toddlers fix accidents on their own at 2 years old.
Hepach et al. (2016): Toddlers help anyone, even other kids.
Informing:
This means sharing helpful info, like pointing to stuff around 10-12 months old.
Study:
Liszkowski et al. (2006): At 12 months, babies point to things others are looking for.
Comforting:
To comfort, you gotta feel empathy and get why others are upset.
Studies:
Zahn-Waxler et al. (1992; 2001): Empathy gets stronger and less selfish over time.
Vaish et al. (2009): At 18 months, kids show sympathy by understanding what others feel.
Hepach et al. (2012): By age 3, kids think about whether someone’s sadness makes sense before they try to comfort them.
Sharing:
Sharing means understanding what's fair.
Studies:
Schmidt & Sommerville (2011), Geraci & Surian (2011), Meristo (2012),