Choice between helping vs not helping: level of mastery in the task

Keywords: Choose task, shared contingencies, helping, domain levels

Abstract

Studies carried out to identify conditions that promote altruism have suggested that factors such as situational consequences and the introduction of verbal components in a task probabilize the individuals' choice to work under shared contingencies. However, it has been found that the presence of these variables is not enough to guarantee that individuals help. It has been considered that the behavioral capacity to perform effectively in a task (i.e. domain level) is a dispositional variable that can facilitate or impede the choice of individuals to work under shared contingencies. Based on this, the objective of this work consisted of evaluating the effects of different levels of domain in an arithmetic task (high and low) on the choice of helping / not helping a partner to perform arithmetic operations. The task was to perform different types of arithmetic operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) to obtain points. Once they accumulated 20 points, participants were presented with the option to choose between helping a partner to solve operations or continue with their task. The results show that participants with high arithmetic domain chose to help their partner more frequently than the participants with low arithmetic domain (40% vs. 23%, respectively). The importance of the task domain level as a dispositional factor in the choice between helping or not helping is discussed.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Allen, N., & Rushton, J. (1983). Personality characteristics of community mental health volunteers: a review. Journal of Voluntary Action Research, 12, 36–49.

Berkowitz, L (1966). A laboratory investigation of social class and national differences in helping behavior. International Journal of Psychology, 1, 231-242.

Bickman, L., & Kamzan, M. (1973). The effect of race and need on helping behavior. Journal of Social Psychology, 89, 73-77.

Boren, J. (1966). An Experimental Social Relation between Two Monkeys. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 9, 691-700.

Calvo, A., González, R. & Martorell, C. (2001). Variables relacionadas con la conducta prosocial en la infancia y adolescencia: Personalidad, autoconcepto y género. Infancia y Aprendizaje: Journal for the Study of Education and Development, 24(1), 95-111

Carpio, C, Silva, H. Reyes, A., Pacheco-lechón, L. Morales, G., Arroyo, Canales, C. & Pacheco, V. (2008). Factores lingüísticos y consecuencias situacionales en la elección de estudiantes universitarios entre colaborar y no colaborar en tareas académicas: un análisis experimental. Acta Colombiana de Psicología, 11 (2), 114-126.

Carpio, C., Canales, C., Morales, G., Arroyo, R. & Silva, H. (2007). Inteligencia, creatividad y desarrollo psicológico. Acta Colombiana de Psicología, 10(2), 41-50.

Carpio, C., Silva, H. Pacheco-Lechón, L., Cantoran, E., Arroyo, R., Canales, C., Morales, G. & Pacheco, V. (2008). Efectos de consecuencias positivas y negativas sobre la conducta altruista. Universitas Psychologica, 7(1), 97-107.

Carpio, C., Silva, H., Landa, E., Morales, G., Arroyo, R., Canales, C. & Pacheco, V. (2006). Generación de criterios de igualación: un caso de conducta creativa. Universitas Psychologica, 5(1), 127-138.

Eisenberg, N. & Lennon, R. (1983). Sex differences in emphaty and related capacities. Psychological Bulletin, 94(1), 100-131.

Eisenberg, N. & Musen, P. (1989). The roots of prosocial Behavior in children. Cambridge: University Press.

Gaertner, S. & Bickman, L. (1971). Effects of race on the elicitation of helping behavior: the wrong number technique. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 20(2), 218-222.

Hake, D. & Vukelich, R. (1972). A Classification and Review of Cooperation Procedures. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 18, 333- 343.

Hake, D., Olvera, D. & Bell, J. (1975). Switching from Competition to Sharing or Cooperation at Large Response Requirements: Competition Requires more Responding. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 24, 343-354.

Hare, A. (1969) Cultural differences in performance in comunication networks in Africa, the United States and the Philippines. Sociology and Social Research, 54, 25-41

Irigoyen, J., Carpio, C., Jiménez, M., Silva, H., Acuña, K. & Arroyo, A. (2002). Variabilidad en el entrenamiento con retroalimentación parcial en la adquisición de desempeños efectivos y su transferencia. Enseñanza e Investigación en Psicología, 7(2), 221-234.

Kantor, J.R. & Smith, N.W. (1975). The Science of Psychology An Interbehavioral Survey. Chicago: The Principia Press.

Mestre, M., Samper, P. & Frías, M. (2002). Procesos cognitivos y emocionales predictores de la conducta prosocial y agresiva: La empatía como factor modulador. Psicothema, 14(2), 227-232.

Pacheco-Lechón, L. & Carpio, C. (2014) Mediación lingüística en las interacciones sociales: el caso de las instrucciones y los acuerdos verbales. Revista Electrónica de Psicología Iztacala, 17(2), 695-714.

Pulido, L., Ribes, E., López, E., Fuentes, V. & Reza (2018). Respuestas y consecuencias compartidas en la elección de contingencias de altruismo parcial. Acta Comportamentalia, 26(1), 29-52.

Retuerto, A. (2004). Diferencias en empatía en función de las variables género y edad. Apuntes de Psicología, 22(3), 323-339.

Ribes, E. y López F. (1985). Teoría de la Conducta. Un análisis de campo y paramétrico. México: Trillas.

Ribes, E. & Pulido, L. (2015). Reciprocidad, tipos de contingencias sociales sistémicas y lenguaje: Investigación de las interacciones interindividuales. Revista Mexicana de Psicología, 32(1), 81-91.

Ribes, E. & Rangel, N. (2002). A Comparison of Choice between Individual and Shared Social Contingencies in Children and Young Adults. European Journal of Behavior Analysis, 3, 61-73.

Ribes, E. (2001). Functional Dimensions of Social Behavior: Theoretical Considerations and some Preliminary Data. Revista Mexicana de Análisis de la Conducta, 27, 284-305.

Ribes, E., Rangel, N., Casillas, J., Álvarez, A., Gudiño, M., Zaragoza, A. & Hernández, H. (2003). Efectos de la inequidad y asimetría de las consecuencias en la elección entre contingencias individuales y sociales. Revista Mexicana de Análisis de la conducta, 29, 131-169.

Ribes, E.; Rangel, N. & López, F. (2008). Análisis teórico de las dimensiones funcionales del comportamiento social. Revista Mexicana de Psicología, 25(1), pp. 45-57.

Ribes, E., Rangel, N., Magaña, C., López, A.G. & Zaragoza, A. (2005). Efecto del intercambio diferencial equitativo e inequitativo en la elección de contingencias sociales de altruismo parcial. Acta Comportamentalia, 13, 159-179.

Ribes, E., Rangel, N., Zaragoza, A., Magaña, C., Hernández, H., Ramírez, E. & Valdez, U. (2006). Effects of Differential and Shared Consequences on Choice between Individual and Social Contingencies. European Journal of Behavior Analysis, 7, 41-56.

Rivera, N. (1980) Factores que determinan la atribución de altruismo. Revista Latinoamericana de Psicología, 12(1), 63-77.

Schmitt, D. & Marwell, G. (1968). Stimulus Control in the Experimental Study of Cooperation. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 11, 571-574.

Schmitt, D. & Marwell, G. (1971). Avoidance of Risk as a Determinant of Cooperation. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 16, 367- 374.

Shimoff, E., & Matthews, B. (1975). Unequal reinforcer magnitudes and relative preference for cooperation in the dyad. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 24, 1-16.

Skinner, B. F. (1938). The behavior of organism: an experimental analysis. New York: Appleton-Century.

Skinner, B. F. (1953). Science and Human Behavior. New York: Mc Millan.

Varela, J. & Quintana, C. (1995). Comportamiento inteligente y su transferencia. Revista Mexicana de Análisis de la Conducta, 1995, 21, 47-66.

Published
2019-01-01
How to Cite
Carpio, C., Pacheco-León, L., Chaparro, M., Carranza, J., Narayanam-Rodríguez, R., & Pacheco, V. (2019). Choice between helping vs not helping: level of mastery in the task. Interacciones, 5(1), 25-31. https://doi.org/10.24016/2019.v5n1.159
Section
Original paper