Psychology 2070A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Overjustification Effect, Dime (United States Coin), Mirror Neuron

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 2070A/B
• Professor: Taylor Kohut

Document Summary

Lecture 9: prosocial behaviour: why do people help, personal determinants of prosocial behaviour, situational determinants of prosocial behaviour, how to increase helping. Prosocial behavior refers to any behavior performed with the goal of benefiting another person: sometimes motivated by self-interest, sometimes motivated by altruism. However, some species engage in a form of altruism, called rescue, that places the altruist in immediate danger. Here we investigate one such example, namely rescuing victims captured by predators. In a field experiment with two north american ant species, tetramorium sp. E and prenolepis imparis, individuals were held in artificial snares simulating capture. E, but not p. imparis, exhibited digging, pulling, and snare biting, the latter precisely targeted to the object binding the victim. These results are the first to document precision rescue in a north american ant species; moreover, unlike rescue in other ants, t. sp.