1
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Gibhardt S, Aitken J, Low R, Henderson AME. Task demands matter in shaping how preschoolers express instrumental helping, comforting, and sharing: A longitudinal analysis. J Exp Child Psychol 2024; 243:105929. [PMID: 38663123 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2024.105929] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2023] [Revised: 02/08/2024] [Accepted: 03/24/2024] [Indexed: 05/04/2024]
Abstract
The current research provides a detailed longitudinal examination of instrumental helping, comforting, and sharing in early childhood. Preschoolers completed a series of prosocial behavior tasks when they were 2 years old (n = 200), 3 years old (n = 161), and 4 years old (n = 135). As expected, children's prosocial behaviors increased with age across all tasks. Yet children's prosocial behaviors were more nuanced than expected, with significant differences in scores between trials within each type of prosocial behavior. Cross-lagged panel modelling revealed that instrumental helping at 3 years predicted comforting when an experimenter was sad or cold at 4 years. Furthermore, children's comforting of a sad experimenter at 3 years predicted sharing their own toy with a sad experimenter at 4 years. These findings offer novel insights into the developmental trajectory of three types of prosocial behavior in early childhood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sina Gibhardt
- School of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland 1010, New Zealand; Humboldt Research Group for Child Development, Leipzig University, 04109 Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Jess Aitken
- School of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland 1010, New Zealand
| | - Rachel Low
- School of Psychology, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington 6140, New Zealand
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2
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Gibhardt S, Hepach R, Henderson AME. Observing prosociality and talent: the emotional characteristics and behavioral outcomes of elevation and admiration in 6.5- to 8.5-year-old children. Front Psychol 2024; 15:1392331. [PMID: 38855306 PMCID: PMC11160138 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1392331] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2024] [Accepted: 04/19/2024] [Indexed: 06/11/2024] Open
Abstract
Helping and seeing others being helped elicits positive emotions in young children but little is known about the nature of these emotions, especially in middle childhood. Here we examined the specific emotional characteristics and behavioral outcomes of two closely related other-praising moral emotions: elevation and admiration. We exposed 182 6.5- to 8.5-year-old children living in New Zealand, to an elevation- and admiration-inducing video clip. Afterwards children's emotion experiences and prosocial behaviour was measured. Findings revealed higher levels of happiness, care, and warmth after seeing prosociality in others (elevation condition) and higher levels of upliftment after seeing talent in others (admiration condition). We found no differences in prosocial behavior between the elevation and admiration conditions. This is the first study to assess elevation in childhood and offers a novel paradigm to investigate the role of moral emotions as potential motivators underlying helping.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sina Gibhardt
- Faculty of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
- Faculty of Education, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Robert Hepach
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Oxford University, Oxford, United Kingdom
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3
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Hepach R, Engelmann JM, Herrmann E, Gerdemann SC, Tomasello M. Evidence for a developmental shift in the motivation underlying helping in early childhood. Dev Sci 2023; 26:e13253. [PMID: 35191158 PMCID: PMC10078187 DOI: 10.1111/desc.13253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2021] [Revised: 01/27/2022] [Accepted: 02/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
We investigated children's positive emotions as an indicator of their underlying prosocial motivation. In Study 1, 2-, and 5-year-old children (N = 64) could either help an individual or watch as another person provided help. Following the helping event and using depth sensor imaging, we measured children's positive emotions through changes in postural elevation. For 2-year-olds, helping the individual and watching another person help was equally rewarding; 5-year-olds showed greater postural elevation after actively helping. In Study 2, 5-year-olds' (N = 59) positive emotions following helping were greater when an audience was watching. Together, these results suggest that 2-year-old children have an intrinsic concern that individuals be helped whereas 5-year-old children have an additional, strategic motivation to improve their reputation by helping.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert Hepach
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Jan M Engelmann
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - Esther Herrmann
- Department of Psychology, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK
| | - Stella C Gerdemann
- Department of Research Methods in Early Child Development, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany.,Leipzig Research Center for Early Child Development, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Michael Tomasello
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA.,Department of Developmental and Comparative Psychology, Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
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4
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Duh S, Goldman EJ, Wang SH. The Role of Intentionality in Infants’ Prediction of Helping and Hindering. JOURNAL OF COGNITION AND DEVELOPMENT 2022. [DOI: 10.1080/15248372.2022.2124259] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/14/2022]
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5
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Tavassoli N, Dunfield K, Kleis A, Recchia H, Conto LP. Preschoolers’ responses to prosocial opportunities during naturalistic interactions with peers: A cross‐cultural comparison. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/sode.12620] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Nasim Tavassoli
- Department of Education Concordia University Montreal Quebec Canada
| | - Kristen Dunfield
- Department of Psychology Concordia University Montreal Quebec Canada
| | - Astrid Kleis
- Department of Psychology Concordia University Montreal Quebec Canada
| | - Holly Recchia
- Department of Education Concordia University Montreal Quebec Canada
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6
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Perkins N, Smith P, Chadwick P. Young Children’s Conceptualisations of Kindness: A Thematic Analysis. Front Psychol 2022; 13:909613. [PMID: 35783797 PMCID: PMC9249386 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.909613] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2022] [Accepted: 05/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Although there is much interest in the development of prosocial behaviour in young children, and many interventions that attempt to cultivate kindness in children, there is a paucity of research exploring children’s lived experiences of kindness and including their voices. In this study, children’s understanding of kindness is approached through qualitative interviews using puppets. Interviews were conducted with 33 children aged 5-6 years in 3 schools in the United Kingdom. Through thematic analysis, 4 themes were developed: (a) doing things for others, (b) relating with others, (c) rules and values, and (d) kindness affects us. These themes are examined in light of current thinking on prosocial and sociomoral development, and several key insights are highlighted, including types of prosocial behaviour, social connection, kindness-by-omission and defending, in-group bias, universal kindness versus personal safety, self-image, and a desire to improve the condition of society. These findings have implications for future research on prosocial development and for the design of kindness-based interventions, as well as providing an ecologically valid method of inquiry for use with young children.
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7
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Corbit J, Didkowsky N, Gora V, Reddy H, Muhammad S, Callaghan T. Facilitating the prosocial development of Rohingya refugee children. J Exp Child Psychol 2022; 220:105414. [PMID: 35366609 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2022.105414] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2022] [Revised: 02/23/2022] [Accepted: 02/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Prosociality is essential for the success of human societies. Children's prosocial development is found to increase in contexts that foster collaboration or emotion perspective taking and is negatively affected by exposure to extreme psychosocial trauma and adversity. Based on these findings, we assessed the effect of collaboration and emotion perspective taking on three types of prosocial behavior-helping, sharing, and comforting-in Rohingya children living in a refugee settlement in India (N = 122; age range = 4-11 years). Half of the children were born in Myanmar (i.e., experienced forced migration from genocide), and half were born in the refugee settlement after their families left Myanmar. We also included a small sample of Rohingya Canadian children (N = 20; age range = 3-12 years) as a within-culture comparison of overall levels of prosocial responding, which were higher in this group relative to children in a refugee settlement. We assigned children in the refugee settlement to one of three conditions-Collaboration, Emotion Perspective Taking (intervention conditions), or Drawing (control condition)-and assessed the three types of prosocial responding following the intervention. Prosocial responding was highest after Collaboration for children born in the refugee settlement and was highest after Emotion Perspective Taking for children born in Myanmar. Overall, these findings point to the potential prosocial benefit in refugee contexts for intervention programs that are responsive to children's lived experience.
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Affiliation(s)
- John Corbit
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4R2, Canada.
| | - Nora Didkowsky
- Department of Psychology, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia B2G 2W5, Canada
| | - Vikas Gora
- SAVE THE CHILDREN | GM - State Programme Telangana Andhra Pradesh State Programme Office, Secunderabad, Telangana State, India
| | - Harini Reddy
- SAVE THE CHILDREN | GM - State Programme Telangana Andhra Pradesh State Programme Office, Secunderabad, Telangana State, India
| | - Saifullah Muhammad
- Department of Psychology, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia B2G 2W5, Canada
| | - Tara Callaghan
- Department of Psychology, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia B2G 2W5, Canada
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8
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Coppens AD, Rogoff B. Cultural variation in the early development of initiative in children's prosocial helping. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/sode.12566] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Andrew D. Coppens
- Department of Education University of New Hampshire Durham New Hampshire USA
| | - Barbara Rogoff
- Department of Psychology University of California, Santa Cruz Santa Cruz California USA
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9
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Sohail S, Dunfield KA, Chernyak N. Dissociable Mechanisms for Diverse Prosocial Behaviors: Counting Skills Predict Sharing Behavior, but Not Instrumental Helping. JOURNAL OF COGNITION AND DEVELOPMENT 2021. [DOI: 10.1080/15248372.2021.1998064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Sifana Sohail
- University of California, California, USA
- Yale University, Connecticut, USA
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10
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Broćić M, Miles A. College and the "Culture War": Assessing Higher Education's Influence on Moral Attitudes. AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW 2021; 86:856-895. [PMID: 34629474 PMCID: PMC8493328 DOI: 10.1177/00031224211041094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Moral differences contribute to social and political conflicts. Against this backdrop, colleges and universities have been criticized for promoting liberal moral attitudes. However, direct evidence for these claims is sparse, and suggestive evidence from studies of political attitudes is inconclusive. Using four waves of data from the National Study of Youth and Religion, we examine the effects of higher education on attitudes related to three dimensions of morality that have been identified as central to conflict: moral relativism, concern for others, and concern for social order. Our results indicate that higher education liberalizes moral concerns for most students, but it also departs from the standard liberal profile by promoting moral absolutism rather than relativism. These effects are strongest for individuals majoring in the humanities, arts, or social sciences, and for students pursuing graduate studies. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of our results for work on political conflict and moral socialization.
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11
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Heyman GD, Ding XP, Fu G, Xu F, Compton BJ, Lee K. Young Children Selectively Hide the Truth About Sensitive Topics. Cogn Sci 2021; 44:e12824. [PMID: 32180270 DOI: 10.1111/cogs.12824] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2019] [Revised: 01/28/2020] [Accepted: 02/10/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Starting in early childhood, children are socialized to be honest. However, they are also expected to avoid telling the truth in sensitive situations if doing so could be seen as inappropriate or impolite. Across two studies (total N = 358), the reasoning of 3- to 5-year-old children in such a scenario was investigated by manipulating whether the information in question would be helpful to the recipient. The studies used a reverse rouge paradigm, in which a confederate with a highly salient red mark on her nose asked children whether she looked okay prior to having her picture taken. In Study 1, children tended to tell the truth only if they were able to observe that the mark was temporary and the confederate did not know it was there. In Study 2, children tended to tell the truth only if they were able to observe that the mark could be concealed with makeup. These findings show that for children as young as age 3, decisions about whether to tell the truth are influenced by the likelihood that the information would be helpful to the recipient.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gail D Heyman
- Department of Psychology, University of California San Diego
| | - Xiao Pan Ding
- Department of Psychology, National University of Singapore
| | - Genyue Fu
- Institutes of Psychological Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University
| | - Fen Xu
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University
| | - Brian J Compton
- Department of Psychology, University of California San Diego
| | - Kang Lee
- Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study, University of Toronto
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12
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Geraci A, Franchin L. Is Defensive Behavior a Subtype of Prosocial Behaviors? Front Psychol 2021; 12:678370. [PMID: 34248777 PMCID: PMC8260945 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.678370] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2021] [Accepted: 05/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Alessandra Geraci
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy
| | - Laura Franchin
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy
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13
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Youngs DE, Yaneva MA, Canter DV. Development of a measure of kindness. CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s12144-021-01882-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
AbstractIn the spirit of the growing developments in positive psychology, there is an increasing interest in how kind people are to each other. Yet, this area lacks any strong psychometric instrument. An initial exploratory study demonstrated that a 40-item questionnaire, completed by 165 people, revealed distinct aspects of kindness when subjected to multivariate analysis. A subsequent study is reported, using the structure of the exploratory results to further clarify the conceptual framework (Study 1). The revised 45-item questionnaire was administered to 1039 individuals from the general British population. Smallest Space Analysis of the variables, supported by Factor analysis, confirmed the hypothesis of two facets to kindness, the psychological source of the action (from principles or empathy), and the form of expression (through psychological involvement or following social prescription. It also revealed an additional general, core kindness, labelled Anthropophilia. Reliable scales derived from the combinations of the two elements from each facet were identified: Affective-Socially Prescribed; Affective-Proactive; Principle-Socially Prescribed and Principle-Proactive. Intercorrelations between the scales revealed that they measure different modes of kindness. Comparisons between male and female respondents provided external validity for the questionnaire. Study 2 (N = 251) reported that the scales measure independent dimensions when correlated with similar and dissimilar concepts.
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Horton RO, Enright EA, Sommerville JA. Infants preferentially help individuals who label objects conventionally. J Exp Child Psychol 2020; 203:105012. [PMID: 33271396 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2020.105012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2019] [Revised: 09/20/2020] [Accepted: 09/21/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Recent evidence suggests that infants engage in selective prosocial behavior toward some individuals over others; the ways in which infants are selective can illuminate the origins of prosocial behaviors. Here, we explored selective helping behavior, investigating whether a target recipient's prior adherence to, or defiance of, social conventions affects infants' subsequent likelihood of helping the target individual. 19-month-old infants (N = 120) participated in an interaction with an experimenter who correctly labeled common objects, incorrectly labeled objects, or labeled objects with nonsense English-like labels. Infants' rates of helping were higher when the experimenter adhered to labeling conventions than when she defied labeling conventions by either labeling objects incorrectly or using unfamiliar nonsense labels. The current study provides evidence that infants use information about adhering to conventions to guide their helping behavior. These findings help to document the ways in which infants are selective in their helping behavior as well as possible origins of prosocial obligations toward ingroup members.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel O Horton
- Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
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15
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16
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Schmerse D, Hepach R. How socialization goals and peer social climate predict young children's concern for others: Evidence for a development shift between 2 and 4 years of age. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/sode.12478] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Schmerse
- Department of Educational Research and Educational Psychology Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education Kiel Germany
| | - Robert Hepach
- Department of Research Methods in Early Child Development Leipzig University Leipzig Germany
- Department of Experimental Psychology University of Oxford Oxford UK
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17
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Paulus M. Is young children's helping affected by helpees' need? Preschoolers, but not infants selectively help needy others. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2020; 84:1440-1450. [PMID: 30758652 PMCID: PMC7270991 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-019-01148-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2018] [Accepted: 01/22/2019] [Indexed: 12/02/2022]
Abstract
Infants and toddlers engage in instrumental helping, that is, help others in achieving an action-based goal. The underlying psychological mechanisms are unclear and hotly debated. The present study examined whether young children's helping is affected by others' need. To this end, 1.5- and 3.5-year-old children (n = 101) were simultaneously confronted with a needy and a non-needy other in a variety of helping tasks. The results show that the 3.5-year-old, but not the 1.5-year-old children preferentially helped the needy person. This suggests developmental changes in the psychological mechanisms underlying early instrumental helping. The results are explained by a developmental account according to which helping only gradually becomes an other-oriented and need-based behavior in the first years of life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Markus Paulus
- Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany.
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18
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Walle EA, Reschke PJ, Main A, Shannon RM. The effect of emotional communication on infants' distinct prosocial behaviors. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/sode.12449] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Eric A. Walle
- Psychological Sciences University of California Merced CA USA
| | | | - Alexandra Main
- Psychological Sciences University of California Merced CA USA
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19
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Lee W, Kim EY, Song H. Do infants expect others to be helpful? BRITISH JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY 2020; 38:478-490. [DOI: 10.1111/bjdp.12331] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2019] [Revised: 03/02/2020] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Wooyeol Lee
- Chungbuk National University Cheongju South Korea
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20
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Barragan RC, Brooks R, Meltzoff AN. Altruistic food sharing behavior by human infants after a hunger manipulation. Sci Rep 2020; 10:1785. [PMID: 32019998 PMCID: PMC7000707 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-58645-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2019] [Accepted: 01/17/2020] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Altruistic behavior entails giving valuable benefits to others while incurring a personal cost. A distinctively human form of altruistic behavior involves handing nutritious food to needy strangers, even when one desires the food. Engaging in altruistic food transfer, instead of keeping the food, is costly, because it reduces the caloric intake of the benefactor vis-à-vis the beneficiary. Human adults engage in this form of altruistic behavior during times of war and famine, when giving food to others threatens one's own survival. Our closest living primate relatives, chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and bonobos (Pan paniscus), exhibit notable constraints on the proclivity to engage in such food transfer (particularly chimpanzees), although they share many social-cognitive commonalities with humans. Here we show that in a nonverbal test, 19-month-old human infants repeatedly and spontaneously transferred high-value, nutritious natural food to a stranger (Experiment 1) and more critically, did so after an experimental manipulation that imposed a feeding delay (Experiment 2), which increased their own motivation to eat the food. Social experience variables moderated the expression of this infant altruistic behavior, suggesting malleability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rodolfo Cortes Barragan
- Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, USA.
- Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, USA.
| | - Rechele Brooks
- Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
| | - Andrew N Meltzoff
- Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, USA.
- Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, USA.
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21
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Yıldız T. Human-Computer Interaction Problem in Learning: Could the Key Be Hidden Somewhere Between Social Interaction and Development of Tools? Integr Psychol Behav Sci 2020; 53:541-557. [PMID: 30826986 DOI: 10.1007/s12124-019-09484-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Homo sapiens is not just a tool-using species, they also can invent and develop tools. This is the feature that distinguishes humans from other species. It is necessary to get rid of the perceptual dominance of the present state of the material to invent and develop a tool. It is based on a mental process: designing. So how was that possible? In this article, I propose an evolutionary hypothesis in response to this question: the referential triangle. Accordingly, the relationship that people establish with things is mentally indirect, but the relationship they establish with each other is mentally direct. The hypothesis claims that the mental solutions of people have naturally established with each other are also used to invent and develop tools. The latest and most interesting product of this mechanism is artificial intelligence. Because artificial intelligence also acts as an inorganic system. What distinguishes it from other machines in this context is its social behavior. Artificial intelligence can generate social signals. So can artificial intelligence be both a tool and a partner at the same time in the referential triangle established with the tools by the human? In other words, can children, for instance, socially interact with artificial intelligence, just as they do naturally with people around? The article draws attention to that this problem should be included in the cultural psychological research agenda.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tolga Yıldız
- Department of Psychology, Istanbul University, Laleli, 34134, Istanbul, Turkey.
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22
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Hepach R, Benziad L, Tomasello M. Chimpanzees help others with what they want; children help them with what they need. Dev Sci 2019; 23:e12922. [PMID: 31710758 DOI: 10.1111/desc.12922] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2018] [Revised: 07/17/2019] [Accepted: 10/29/2019] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Humans, including young children, are strongly motivated to help others, even paying a cost to do so. Humans' nearest primate relatives, great apes, are likewise motivated to help others, raising the question of whether the motivations of humans and apes are the same. Here we compared the underlying motivation to help in human children and chimpanzees. Both species understood the situation and helped a conspecific in a straightforward situation. However, when helpers knew that what the other was requesting would not actually help her, only children gave her what she needed instead of giving her what she requested. These results suggest that both chimpanzees and human children help others but the underlying motivation for why they help differs. In comparison to chimpanzees, young children help in a paternalistic manner. The evolutionary hypothesis is that uniquely human socio-ecologies based on interdependent cooperation gave rise to uniquely human prosocial motivations to help others paternalistically.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert Hepach
- Research Methods in Early Child Development, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Sachsen, Germany
| | - Leïla Benziad
- Developmental and Comparative Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Michael Tomasello
- Developmental and Comparative Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.,Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
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23
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Aitken J, Ruffman T, Taumoepeau M. Toddlers' Self-Recognition and Progression From Goal- to Emotion-Based Helping: A Longitudinal Study. Child Dev 2019; 91:1219-1236. [PMID: 31429069 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13304] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Research has typically used cross-sectional designs to draw conclusions on the development of helping. This study aimed to examine the development of instrumental and empathic helping behaviors as they emerge, and assess how self-recognition might moderate this progression. Seventy-two children (14- to 25-months at T1) were assessed over four monthly sessions. Participants' individual response patterns showed instrumental helping to be a necessary precursor to empathic helping for 55.77%-67.92% of children who helped during the study. Self-recognition emerged before empathic but not instrumental helping, yet did not directly influence helping behavior.
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Abstract
From early in life, children help, comfort, and share with others. Recent research has deepened scientific understanding of the development of prosociality - efforts to promote the welfare of others. This article discusses two key insights about the emergence and early development of prosocial behavior, focusing on the development of helping. First, children's motivations and capabilities for helping change in quality as well as quantity over the opening years of life. Specifically, helping begins in participatory activities without prosocial intent in the first year of life, becoming increasingly autonomous and motivated by prosocial intent over the second year. Second, helping emerges through bidirectional social interactions, starting at birth, in which caregivers and others support the development of helping in a variety of ways and young children play active roles, often influencing caregiver behavior. The question now is not whether, but how social interactions contribute to the development of prosocial behavior. Recent methodological and theoretical advances provide exciting avenues for future research on the social and emotional origins of human prosociality.
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Dahl A. The Science of Early Moral Development: on Defining, Constructing, and Studying Morality from Birth. ADVANCES IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND BEHAVIOR 2018; 56:1-35. [PMID: 30846044 DOI: 10.1016/bs.acdb.2018.11.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
The first 4 years of moral development are perhaps the most transformative. Helpless neonates become infants who routinely help and harm others; infants develop into preschoolers who make moral judgments based on moral concerns with welfare. Over the past two decades, there has been tremendous empirical progress, but also theoretical stalemates, in research on early moral development. To advance the field, this chapter argues for providing definitions of key terms, adopting an interactionist and constructivist approach (eschewing the dichotomy between innate and learned characteristics), and combining naturalistic and experimental methods. On this basis, the chapter reviews research on how children's orientations toward helping and harming others develop gradually through everyday social interactions in the early years. In these interactions, children play active roles through initiation, negotiation, protest, and construction. The chapter concludes with key questions for future research on early moral development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Audun Dahl
- University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, United States.
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Dahl A. New Beginnings: An Interactionist and Constructivist Approach to Early Moral Development. Hum Dev 2018; 61:232-247. [PMID: 30983600 PMCID: PMC6456060 DOI: 10.1159/000492801] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Orientations toward harming and helping others are central to morality. These orientations undergo major transformations in early life. This paper proposes an interactionist and constructivist approach to early moral development, and discusses how children construct orientations toward harming and helping through everyday social interactions. A major developmental acquisition - typically evident by age three - is the ability to make judgments of right and wrong based on concerns with others' welfare. The paper concludes by outlining issues for future research on the development of morality from infancy to childhood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Audun Dahl
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Cruz
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Dahl A, Killen M. A Developmental Perspective on the Origins of Morality in Infancy and Early Childhood. Front Psychol 2018; 9:1736. [PMID: 30294291 PMCID: PMC6159747 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01736] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2018] [Accepted: 08/28/2018] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Key constituents of morality emerge during the first 4 years of life. Recent research with infants and toddlers holds a promise to explain the origins of human morality. This article takes a constructivist approach to the acquisition of morality, and makes three main proposals. First, research on moral development needs an explicit definition of morality. Definitions are crucial for scholarly communication and for settling empirical questions. Second, researchers would benefit from eschewing the dichotomy between innate and learned explanations of morality. Based on work on developmental biology, we propose that all developmental transitions involve both genetic and environmental factors. Third, attention is needed to developmental changes, alongside continuities, in the development of morality from infancy through childhood. Although infants and toddlers show behaviors that resemble the morally relevant behaviors of older children and adults, they do not judge acts as morally right or wrong until later in childhood. We illustrate these points by discussing the development of two phenomena central to morality: Orientations toward helping others and developing concepts of social equality. We assert that a constructivist approach will help to bridge research on infants and toddlers with research on moral developmental later in childhood and into adulthood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Audun Dahl
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, United States
| | - Melanie Killen
- University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, MD, United States
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Zhao L, Heyman GD, Chen L, Sun W, Zhang R, Lee K. Cheating in the name of others: Offering prosocial justifications promotes unethical behavior in young children. J Exp Child Psychol 2018; 177:187-196. [PMID: 30216777 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2018.08.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2018] [Revised: 08/10/2018] [Accepted: 08/10/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
The current research examined whether young children engage in unethical behavior to a greater extent when they have a prosocial justification for doing so. Participants (3- and 5-year-olds, N = 240) played a guessing game in which they were tempted to cheat to win a prize after promising not to do so. In Study 1, children were randomly assigned to either an experimental prosocial condition in which they were told that the prize would be given to a child who was unable to play the game or a control condition in which they were told that they would get to keep the prize for themselves. The 5-year-olds, but not the 3-year-olds, were more likely to cheat in the prosocial condition than in the control condition. Studies 2a and 2b revealed that older children's tendency to engage in prosocial cheating was driven by their concern with signaling to others that they are prosocial. These findings suggest that the tendency to act unethically to benefit others emerges early in development and that this tendency may reflect children's interest in prosocial signaling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li Zhao
- Institute of Psychological Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 311121, People's Republic of China; Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310015, People's Republic of China.
| | - Gail D Heyman
- Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, Zhejiang 321004, People's Republic of China.
| | - Lulu Chen
- Institute of Psychological Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 311121, People's Republic of China
| | - Wenjin Sun
- Institute of Psychological Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 311121, People's Republic of China
| | - Rui Zhang
- Institute of Psychological Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 311121, People's Republic of China
| | - Kang Lee
- Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5R 2X2, Canada; Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, Zhejiang 321004, People's Republic of China
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Krupenye C, Tan J, Hare B. Bonobos voluntarily hand food to others but not toys or tools. Proc Biol Sci 2018; 285:rspb.2018.1536. [PMID: 30209230 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2018.1536] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2018] [Accepted: 08/21/2018] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
A key feature of human prosociality is direct transfers, the most active form of sharing in which donors voluntarily hand over resources in their possession Direct transfers buffer hunter-gatherers against foraging shortfalls. The emergence and elaboration of this behaviour thus likely played a key role in human evolution by promoting cooperative interdependence and ensuring that humans' growing energetic needs (e.g. for increasing brain size) were more reliably met. According to the strong prosociality hypothesis, among great apes only humans exhibit sufficiently strong prosocial motivations to directly transfer food. The versatile prosociality hypothesis suggests instead that while other apes may make transfers in constrained settings, only humans share flexibly across food and non-food contexts. In controlled experiments, chimpanzees typically transfer objects but not food, supporting both hypotheses. In this paper, we show in two experiments that bonobos directly transfer food but not non-food items. These findings show that, in some contexts, bonobos exhibit a human-like motivation for direct food transfer. However, humans share across a far wider range of contexts, lending support to the versatile prosociality hypothesis. Our species' unusual prosocial flexibility is likely built on a prosocial foundation we share through common descent with the other apes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher Krupenye
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA .,Department of Developmental and Comparative Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.,School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK
| | - Jingzhi Tan
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.,Zoo Atlanta, Atlanta, GA 30315, USA.,Department of Cognitive Science, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Brian Hare
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.,Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
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Beier JS, Dunfield KA. Response: Commentary: A construct divided: prosocial behavior as helping, sharing, and comforting subtypes. Front Psychol 2018; 9:553. [PMID: 29719526 PMCID: PMC5914279 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00553] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2017] [Accepted: 04/03/2018] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan S Beier
- Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States
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Shimizu Y, Senzaki S, Uleman JS. The Influence of Maternal Socialization on Infants’ Social Evaluation in Two Cultures. INFANCY 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/infa.12240] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Sawa Senzaki
- Department of Human Development; University of Wisconsin-Green Bay
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32
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Aknin LB, Van de Vondervoort JW, Hamlin JK. Positive feelings reward and promote prosocial behavior. Curr Opin Psychol 2018; 20:55-59. [DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.08.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 100] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2017] [Revised: 06/21/2017] [Accepted: 08/03/2017] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
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33
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The multidimensional nature of early prosocial behavior: a motivational perspective. Curr Opin Psychol 2018; 20:111-116. [DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.09.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2017] [Revised: 08/28/2017] [Accepted: 09/08/2017] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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34
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Dahl A. How , not whether : contributions of others in the development of infant helping. Curr Opin Psychol 2018; 20:72-76. [DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.07.038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2017] [Revised: 06/20/2017] [Accepted: 07/31/2017] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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35
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The evolutionary roots of prosociality: the case of instrumental helping. Curr Opin Psychol 2018; 20:82-86. [DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.08.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2017] [Revised: 07/29/2017] [Accepted: 08/07/2017] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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Affiliation(s)
- Felix Warneken
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
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37
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Aime H, Broesch T, Aknin LB, Warneken F. Evidence for proactive and reactive helping in two- to five-year-olds from a small-scale society. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0187787. [PMID: 29141009 PMCID: PMC5687751 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0187787] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2016] [Accepted: 10/25/2017] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Humans are unique in their propensity for helping. Not only do we help others in need by reacting to their requests, we also help proactively by assisting in the absence of a request. Proactive helping requires the actor to detect the need for help, recognize the intention of the other, and remedy the situation. Very little is known about the development of this social phenomenon beyond an urban, industrialized setting. We examined helping in nineteen two- to five-year old children in small-scale rural villages of Vanuatu. In the experimental condition, the intentions of the experimenter were made salient, whereas in the control condition they were ambiguous. Children helped more often in the experimental compared to the control condition, suggesting that the propensity to monitor others' goals and act accordingly can be detected in different cultural contexts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hilary Aime
- Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Tanya Broesch
- Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Lara B. Aknin
- Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Felix Warneken
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America
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Tan J, Ariely D, Hare B. Bonobos respond prosocially toward members of other groups. Sci Rep 2017; 7:14733. [PMID: 29116154 PMCID: PMC5676687 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-15320-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2015] [Accepted: 10/11/2017] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Modern humans live in an "exploded" network with unusually large circles of trust that form due to prosociality toward unfamiliar people (i.e. xenophilia). In a set of experiments we demonstrate that semi-free ranging bonobos (Pan paniscus) - both juveniles and young adults - also show spontaneous responses consistent with xenophilia. Bonobos voluntarily aided an unfamiliar, non-group member in obtaining food even when he/she did not make overt requests for help. Bonobos also showed evidence for involuntary, contagious yawning in response to videos of yawning conspecifics who were complete strangers. These experiments reveal that xenophilia in bonobos can be unselfish, proactive and automatic. They support the first impression hypothesis that suggests xenophilia can evolve through individual selection in social species whenever the benefits of building new bonds outweigh the costs. Xenophilia likely evolved in bonobos as the risk of intergroup aggression dissipated and the benefits of bonding between immigrating members increased. Our findings also mean the human potential for xenophilia is either evolutionarily shared or convergent with bonobos and not unique to our species as previously proposed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jingzhi Tan
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA.
| | - Dan Ariely
- Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA
- Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA
| | - Brian Hare
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA
- Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA
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39
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Paulus M, Rosal-Grifoll B. Helping and sharing in preschool children with autism. Exp Brain Res 2017; 235:2081-2088. [DOI: 10.1007/s00221-017-4947-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2016] [Accepted: 03/22/2017] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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40
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Dahl A, Satlof-Bedrick ES, Hammond SI, Drummond JK, Waugh WE, Brownell CA. Explicit scaffolding increases simple helping in younger infants. Dev Psychol 2017; 53:407-416. [PMID: 27854464 PMCID: PMC5323366 DOI: 10.1037/dev0000244] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Infants become increasingly helpful during the second year. We investigated experimentally whether adults' explicit scaffolding influences this development. Infants (N = 69, 13-18 months old) participated in a series of simple helping tasks. Half of infants received explicit scaffolding (encouragement and praise), whereas the other half did not. Among younger infants (below 15 months), infants who received explicit scaffolding helped twice as often as infants in the control group, and also helped more on several subsequent trials when no scaffolding was provided. As predicted, older infants were not affected by explicit scaffolding. These results demonstrate the influence of social experiences in early helping, but also how the effects of scaffolding may depend on the developmental level of the child. Less explicit forms of scaffolding may be effective when children are older. (PsycINFO Database Record
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Melis AP, Warneken F. The psychology of cooperation: Insights from chimpanzees and children. Evol Anthropol 2017; 25:297-305. [PMID: 28004893 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21507] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2016] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Across all cultures, humans engage in cooperative activities that can be as simple as preparing a meal or sharing food with others and as complex as playing in an orchestra or donating to charity. Although intraspecific cooperation exists among many other animal species, only humans engage in such a wide array of cooperative interaction and participate in large-scale cooperation that extends beyond kin and even includes strangers.
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Abstract
Toddlers are remarkably prosocial toward adults, yet little is known about their helping behavior toward peers. In the present study with 18- and 30-month-old toddlers (n = 192, 48 dyads per age group), one child needed help reaching an object to continue a task that was engaging for both children. The object was within reach of the second child who helped significantly more often compared to a no-need control condition. The helper also fulfilled the peer's need when the task was engaging only for the child needing help. These findings suggest that toddlers' skills and motivations of helping do not depend on having a competent and helpful recipient, such as an adult, but rather they are much more flexible and general.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert Hepach
- Leipzig University and Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
| | - Nadine Kante
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
| | - Michael Tomasello
- Duke University and Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
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43
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44
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Paulus M, Jung N, O'Driscoll K, Moore C. Toddlers Involve Their Caregiver to Help Another Person in Need. INFANCY 2016; 22:645-664. [DOI: 10.1111/infa.12173] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2016] [Revised: 10/04/2016] [Accepted: 10/15/2016] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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45
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Hepach R, Vaish A, Grossmann T, Tomasello M. Young Children Want to See Others Get the Help They Need. Child Dev 2016; 87:1703-1714. [DOI: 10.1111/cdev.12633] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Robert Hepach
- Leipzig University, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
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46
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Eisenberg N, VanSchyndel SK, Spinrad TL. Prosocial Motivation: Inferences From an Opaque Body of Work. Child Dev 2016; 87:1668-1678. [DOI: 10.1111/cdev.12638] [Citation(s) in RCA: 82] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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47
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Martin A, Lin K, Olson KR. What You Want Versus What's Good for You: Paternalistic Motivation in Children's Helping Behavior. Child Dev 2016; 87:1739-1746. [DOI: 10.1111/cdev.12637] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Schmelz M, Call J. The psychology of primate cooperation and competition: a call for realigning research agendas. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2016; 371:20150067. [PMID: 26644603 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2015.0067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Cooperation and competition are two key components of social life. Current research agendas investigating the psychological underpinnings of competition and cooperation in non-human primates are misaligned. The majority of work on competition has been done in the context of theory of mind and deception, while work on cooperation has mostly focused on collaboration and helping. The current impression that theory of mind is not necessarily implicated in cooperative activities and that helping could not be an integral part of competition might therefore be rather misleading. Furthermore, theory of mind research has mainly focused on cognitive aspects like the type of stimuli controlling responses, the nature of representation and how those representations are acquired, while collaboration and helping have focused primarily on motivational aspects like prosociality, common goals and a sense of justice and other-regarding concerns. We present the current state of these two bodies of research paying special attention to how they have developed and diverged over the years. We propose potential directions to realign the research agendas to investigate the psychological underpinnings of cooperation and competition in primates and other animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Schmelz
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Josep Call
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany School of Psychology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9JP, UK
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49
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert Hepach
- Department of Developmental and Comparative Psychology; Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
| | - Katharina Haberl
- Department of Developmental and Comparative Psychology; Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
| | - Stéphane Lambert
- Département d'études cognitives; CNRS, UMR8129, Institut Jean-Nicod, Ecole normale supérieure - PSL Research University
| | - Michael Tomasello
- Department of Developmental and Comparative Psychology; Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
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50
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