Slack:
https://bcccd.slack.com/archives/C02QGTHNTM1
Ece Yucer, Hannah Solby, Elisabetta F. Canaletti, Katie S. Rose, Jessica A. SommervilleUniversity of Toronto, Toronto, CanadaPrevious research has shown that young children are eager to share resources (Hay & Cook, 2007) and help others (Warneken & Tomasello, 2006). Sommerville et al. (2018) found that prosocial behavior in children decreases as personal costs are increased. However, the underlying mechanisms motivating early prosocial behavior are unclear; specifically, it is not known if or how young children weigh others’ needs against the personal costs incurred by helping. Here, we are investigating how 5-year-olds (n = 96) evaluate cost and need while helping, using a 2 (high versus low need) by 2 (high versus low cost) design. Children are trained on a novel game wherein they move desired objects into a character’s bin by clapping. Before each trial, the cost level (difficulty) and the character’s need level are presented; children choose to play or skip each trial. We observe whether children choose to play and record the number of claps per trial. Preliminary results demonstrate that children (n = 47) chose to play, numerically but not significantly, more low cost (M=6.59, SD=2.36) than high cost (M=5.85, SD=2.68) trials, t(46) = 1.45, p = 0.15, and helped in more high need (M=6.79, SD=2.28) over low need (M=5.66, SD=2.04) trials, t(46) = 3.23, p < .001. We are also investigating individual differences in helping behavior through measures of empathy and inhibitory control. Overall, this study will help identify whether early helping behaviours are truly prosocially motivated.
