Additional Reading Notes

Question 1

Muzaffar Sheriff’s Study on co-operation

Answer 1

• Arranged for 22 well- adjusted 5th graders to attend a summer camp
• Divided boys into two groups on opposite side of lake. Unaware of others existence
• Competition in a 4 days athletics tournament with prizes and medals

Question 2

Sheriff’s discoveries on Competition

Answer 2

• All signs of outgroup bias emerged including ingroup favoritism and homogeneity effect
  -Conflict and aggression including physical altercations

Question 3

Sheriff’s findings on Co-operation

Answer 3

• Rigged a truck to break down and both groups had to work together to move it
• Increase in cross- group relationships

Question 4

Overall Takeaways from Sheriff’s study

Answer 4

• Among strangers, competition and isolation created enemies
• Among enemies, co-operation created friends

Question 5

Superordinate Goals

Answer 5

Goals that require people to co-operate tend to reduce hostility between groups

Question 6

Prosocial Behaviors

Answer 6

Actions that benefit others such as doing favours or helping i.e. paying compliments, offering assistance and smiling

Question 7

Batson on why humans are prosocial

Answer 7

Prosocial behaviours are motivated by empathy, in which people share other people’s emotions

Question 8

Claudini on why humans are prosocial

Answer 8

Most prosocial behaviours have selfish motives, such as wanting to manage one’s public image or relieve one’s negative mood

Question 9

Zahn- Waxier on why humans are prosocial

Answer 9

People have an inborn tendency to help others.
-i.e. Young infants become distressed when they see other infants crying

Question 10

Altruism

Answer 10

Providing help when it is needed without any immediate reward for doing so

Question 11

Hamilton’s contribution to psychology

Answer 11

Concept of inclusive fitness

Question 12

Inclusive Fitness

Answer 12

An explanation for altruism that focuses on the adaptive behaviour of transmitting genes such as through kin selection rather than focusing on individual survival

Question 13

Kin Selection

Answer 13

• People are altruistic towards those with which they share genes
• When your family members thrive, at least some of your genes will survive

Question 14

Triver’s Contribution to Psychology

Answer 14

Reciprocal Helping

Question 15

Reciprocal Helping

Answer 15

• One animal helps another because the other may return the favour in the future
• Benefits must outweigh the cost
• Likely to occur in humans where survival is dependent on co-operation

Question 16

Bystander Intervention Effect

Answer 16

The failure to offer help by those who observe someone in need when other people are present
- Less likely to receive help when others are around

Question 17

Latané and Darley on Bystander Intervention

Answer 17

-Male college students in a room to fill out surveys
- Some were alone, others were with naive participants and some were with calm, unperturbed confederates
- Smoke in vents

Question 18

Lone Participants

Answer 18

-Mostly sought help

Question 19

Naive Participants

Answer 19

Few initially sought help

Question 20

Confederates

Answer 20

Only 10% sought help

Question 21

Reasons for Bystander Effect

Answer 21

• Diffusion of responsibility
• Social Blunders
• Anonymity
• Weighing of Options

Question 22

Diffusion of Responsibility

Answer 22

Bystanders expect other bystanders to help

Question 23

Social Blunders

Answer 23

People may worry that they will look foolish for seeking/ offering help that is not needed

Question 24

Anonymity

Answer 24

• People are far less likely to help when they are anonymous and can remain so
• Wise to point to someone specific i.e. “you with red shirt, call an ambulance”

Question 25

Weighing of Options

Answer 25

- How much harm do they risk to themselves? - What benefits may the forgo by helping? - i.e. more likely to help on a boring day on the way to your least favourite class than on the morning of a big exam

Question 26

Minimal Group Paradigm

Answer 26

- Randomly assigning participants into two groups using meaningless criteria such as flipping a coin

Question 27

Role of Medial Prefrontal Cortex

Answer 27

- Important for thinking about other people, both generally and specifically - Associated with in-group bias - Less active when people consider members of outgroup, especially extreme outgroups i.e. drug addicts/ homeless

Question 28

Stoner's Impact to Psychology

Answer 28

- Risky- shift effect

Question 29

Individuated People

Answer 29

We walk around with a sense of ourselves as individuals who are responsible for our own actions

Question 30

Normative Influence

Answer 30

-The tendency for people to conform in order to fit in with a group - Can sometimes cause people to conform even when they believe that the person is doing the wrong thing - Helps society run smoothly - i.e. following a trend

Question 31

Informational Influence

Answer 31

- The tendency for people to conform when they assume that the behaviour of others represents the correct way to respond

Question 32

Obedience

Answer 32

Following the orders of a person of authority

Question 33

What type of attitudes develop the fastest

Answer 33

Negative Attitudes

Question 34

Compliance

Answer 34

The tendency to agree to do things requested by others