Prosocial Behavior in Children

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Questions and Answers

What is a key characteristic of prosocial behavior in children?

It solely depends on adult guidance.

It is inflexible and situation-specific.

It is shown from a very early age. (correct)

It requires a specific type of social group.

What factor does NOT influence prosocial behavior according to the content?

The specific abilities of a recipient (correct)

Individualist vs collectivist orientation

Physical proximity

Cultural background

Which aspect of social similarity is highlighted as a factor in prosocial behavior?

Similarity among family members (correct)

Social status in the community

Membership in distinct cultural groups

Gender differences among friends

How does group membership affect prosocial behavior?

Family members are more likely to perform prosocial acts. Signup and view all the answers

What does the content suggest about human concern for others?

It shows a genuine concern from an early age. Signup and view all the answers

How does receiving a reward influence children's willingness to share?

It decreases their willingness to share Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is NOT part of the evolutionary explanations for altruism?

Social learning Signup and view all the answers

What method is particularly associated with the reciprocity approach to altruism?

Reputation Signup and view all the answers

What is a common outcome of collaboration in children according to recent studies?

Equal sharing Signup and view all the answers

Which statement accurately reflects the effect of parental presence on young children's helping behavior?

Parental presence has no impact on helping behavior Signup and view all the answers

What is required for effective comforting?

Sympathy and empathy Signup and view all the answers

At what age do children begin to show sympathy through affective perspective taking?

18 months Signup and view all the answers

Which type of distress do young children sympathize with the most?

Appropriate distress Signup and view all the answers

What influences young children's sympathy and prosocial behavior?

Assessment of distress justification Signup and view all the answers

Which aspect is crucial for the concept of sharing in infants?

Knowledge of fairness Signup and view all the answers

Infants observe a resource allocation to determine what concept?

Fairness Signup and view all the answers

Young children show reduced sympathy in response to which type of distress?

Unjustified emotional distress Signup and view all the answers

Which condition leads to less sympathy from children?

Overreaction to minor harm Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary focus of children's helping behavior?

Seeing another person's need fulfilled Signup and view all the answers

What type of helping is associated with understanding emotions from subtle cues?

Empathic helping Signup and view all the answers

At what age do children actively begin to remedy unnoticed accidents?

2 years Signup and view all the answers

How do toddlers' skills and motivations for helping function according to their recipient's competence?

They are highly flexible and general Signup and view all the answers

What is a preverbal imperative pointing gesture in infants meant to achieve?

To express a desire or request Signup and view all the answers

At what age do infants begin to point towards objects to help inform others?

12 months Signup and view all the answers

What type of helping involves some cost or sacrifice to the helper?

Altruistic helping Signup and view all the answers

How does instrumental helping differ from empathic helping?

Instrumental helping is action-based Signup and view all the answers

What is the expectation of preverbal infants regarding the allocation of goods?

They expect goods to be allocated equally Signup and view all the answers

At what age do toddlers typically begin to understand ownership and sharing?

In their second year Signup and view all the answers

What do 3-year-olds tend to do in 3rd party allocation tasks?

Allocate resources strictly evenly Signup and view all the answers

When do children typically begin to prefer sharing even when it is costly?

By age 5 to 8 Signup and view all the answers

How do younger children generally behave in Dictator Games?

They usually keep the majority to themselves Signup and view all the answers

What behavior is observed in 3-year-olds regarding sharing post-collaboration?

They share resources with others Signup and view all the answers

What is the 'knowledge behavior gap' in relation to children's sharing behavior?

Children know how to share but choose not to do so Signup and view all the answers

What do studies suggest about children's ability to share equally between the ages of 5 to 9?

They begin to share more equally Signup and view all the answers

What type of sharing do chimpanzees exhibit?

Passive sharing only under pressure Signup and view all the answers

Which factor can undermine intrinsic motivation to help in children?

Material rewards Signup and view all the answers

What is one of the predominant communicative intentions of captive chimpanzees?

Requests for objects and actions Signup and view all the answers

What type of prosocial behavior do chimpanzees exhibit towards others in distress?

Comforting behaviors Signup and view all the answers

What does intrinsic motivation in young children to help others result in?

Elevated body posture Signup and view all the answers

What aspect of sharing do chimpanzees NOT demonstrate?

Equity aversion Signup and view all the answers

What type of behaviors are associated with comforting in chimpanzees?

Grooming and gentle touches Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is considered an intrinsic motivational factor for children to engage in prosocial behavior?

Inherent desire to help others Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Prosocial Behaviour

Prosocial behaviour is any voluntary, intentional action that benefits another person, regardless of cost to the actor
Includes helpful actions that do not benefit the helper directly and may even put the helper at risk
Opposite of antisocial behaviour
Four forms of prosocial behaviour:
- Instrumental helping: supporting others to achieve their goals
- Informing: sharing useful information
- Comforting: providing emotional support
- Sharing: sacrificing own resources
Infants spontaneously help strangers
- 18-month-old infants help others achieve their goals in various situations (out-of-reach, physical obstacles, wrong results, wrong means).
Infants help altruistically
- Children help without expecting a reward or if the helping is costly
- Parental presence or encouragement does not influence children helping behaviour
Children may just be restoring the order of things
- Children's helping may not be aimed at fulfilling another person's need, but rather at restoring a disrupted order
Children help empathically
- Instrumental helping (action based), Empathic helping (emotion based), Altruistic helping (costly)
- Prosocial behaviour develops from action understanding and clear communications, and gradually progresses into subtle emotional cues recognition, over the 2nd year of life.
Children help proactively
- At 2 years, children proactively remedy unnoticed accidents
Toddlers help peers
- Toddler's skills and motivations of helping do not depend on competent and helpful recipients, but rather they are flexible and general
Toddlers comfort others in distress
- No, toddlers do not comfort distressed people when they are not clearly distress. Studies showed no difference between experimental and control groups
Young children comfort people who are not distressed?
- Children sympathize with people who are harmed, even if the harmed person shows no emotional cues.
- 18-month-old infants show sympathy through affective perspective taking
Do young children sympathize less in response to unjustified emotional distress?
- 3-year-old's sympathy and prosocial behaviour are not automatic; children take into account if the displayed distress is justified.

Infuencing Factors

Familiarity (family > non-family, friends > non-friends, familiar people > strangers)
Culture (individualistic vs. collective values)
Group membership (in-group > out-group, similar to oneself)
Gender (no difference in emergence, Girls > Boys)
Siblings (Empathy and sensitivity (social understanding), Rivalry, Anger and aggression)
Parenting (responsiveness to distress, secure attachment)

"Finetuning"

Helping: Fault, Competence, Moral dilemmas, Bystander
Sharing: Value of resources, Ownership understanding, Merit, Need
Comforting: Fault, Responsibility, Kind of damage, Age

Today's Topics

What is prosocial behaviour?
Do children already show prosocial behaviour?
But, is it only unique to humans?

Prosocial Behaviour in Nonhuman Primates

Do chimps help others?
- Similar tendency to help, less robust and flexible
- Chimps helped in reaching tasks, but not in other types of helping tasks
- Familiar keeper, chimps rewarded in captivity
Do chimps inform others?
- No
- Chimps primarily produce requests for objects and are mainly acquisitive motivated
Do chimps comfort others?
- Potential for empathy and consolation behaviours observed (e.g., kiss, embrace, grooming, gentle touch)
- Link to reduce stress in victims after aggressive attacks, sympathetic concern
Do chimps share with others?
- No
- Only passive sharing (under pressure)
- Dominant chimps get the most
- Competition for spoils
- Do not show inequity aversion

Motivations

Nature vs. nurture?
Intrinsically or extrinsically motivated?
Is prosocial behaviour intrinsically motivated?
- Inborn motifation to form cooperative relationships
- Strategies to reach others in a spirit of mutual trust
Is helping intrinsically motivated?
- Young children are intrinsically motivated to see others helped
- Fulfillment of others' needs elevates children's and their body posture
Is helping intrinsically motivated?
- Intrinsic motivation can be undermined by external incentives (overjustification effect)
Is sharing intrinsically motivated?
- Children's willingness to engage in costly sharing is negatively influenced after receiving a reward rather than praise

Evolutionary Approach
- Kin selection
- Group selection
- Signal of fitness
- Care for offspring
Reciprocity approach
- Tit for tat
- Reputation
Individual approach
- Social learning

Selected References

Specific studies and authors listed. (Note: You need to look up details for these studies)

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Description

Explore the key aspects of prosocial behavior in children through this quiz. Test your knowledge on the influence of social factors, group membership, and parental presence on helping behaviors. Dive into the nuances of altruism and how children engage with each other in collaborative settings.