Young children show the bystander effect in helping situations

The authors thank the ESRC for supporting Harriet Over (grant number ES/K006702/1).Much research in social psychology has shown that otherwise helpful people often fail to help when bystanders are present. Research in developmental psychology has shown that even very young children help, and that others’ presence can actually increase helping in some cases. In the current study, in contrast, 5-year-old children helped an experimenter at very high levels when they were alone, but significantly less in the presence of bystanders who were potentially available to help. In another condition designed to elucidate the mechanism underlying the effect, children’s helping was not reduced when bystanders were present but confined behind a barrier and thus unable to help (a condition that has not been run in previous studies with adults). Young children thus show the bystander effect, and it is not due to social referencing or shyness to act in front of others, but rather to a sense of a diffusion of responsibility.PostprintPeer reviewe

What Is a Group? : Young Children’s Perceptions of Different Types of Groups and Group Entitativity

To date, developmental research on groups has focused mainly on in-group biases and intergroup relations. However, little is known about children’s general understanding of social groups and their perceptions of different forms of group. In this study, 5- to 6-year-old children were asked to evaluate prototypes of four key types of groups: an intimacy group (friends), a task group (people who are collaborating), a social category (people who look alike), and a loose association (people who coincidently meet at a tram stop). In line with previous work with adults, the vast majority of children perceived the intimacy group, task group, and social category, but not the loose association, to possess entitativity, that is, to be a ‘real group.’ In addition, children evaluated group member properties, social relations, and social obligations differently in each type of group, demonstrating that young children are able to distinguish between different types of in-group relations. The origins of the general group typology used by adults thus appear early in development. These findings contribute to our knowledge about children's intuitive understanding of groups and group members' behavior

Behavioral observation of prosocial behavior and social initiative is related to preschoolers' psychopathological symptoms.

Current research on preschool-age psychopathology suggests specific impairments in the two domains of social competence-prosocial behavior and social initiative-in children with externalizing and internalizing symptoms. While behavioral observation methods have been largely neglected in the past, they may extend the predominating questionnaire-based assessment as they allow for a precise and objective assessment of children's social behavior. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether prosocial behavior and social initiative measured in a limited resource task are related to externalizing and internalizing symptoms in a preschool-age community sample (N = 117, M = 4.67 years, SD = 2.75 months, females = 57). Externalizing and internalizing symptoms were rated by teachers (n = 109) and parents (n = 77) using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and by children using the Berkeley Puppet Interview (n = 97). Reduced prosocial actions were related to children's higher ratings of externalizing symptoms, while reduced social initiative actions were related to parents' higher ratings of internalizing symptoms. Prosocial behavior in the behavioral task was a marginally significant positive predictor of internalizing symptoms from children's perspective. These results highlight the value of behavioral observation measures and contribute to our understanding of interpersonal deficits already related to psychopathology at preschool age

The effects of collaboration and minimal-group membership on children's prosocial behavior, liking, affiliation, and trust

Recent theoretical work has highlighted potential links between interpersonal collaboration and group membership in the evolution of human sociality. Here we compared the effects of collaboration and minimal-group membership on young children's prosocial behavior (i.e., helping and resource allocation), liking, affiliation, and trust. In a design that matched as closely as possible these two ways of connecting with others, we showed that 5-year-olds' behavior was affected similarly by collaboration and minimal-group membership; both increased children's preference for their partners on multiple dimensions and produced overall effects of a similar magnitude. In contrast, 3.5-year-olds did not have a strong preference for either collaborators or minimal in-group members. Thus, both collaboration and minimal-group membership are similarly effective in their influence on children's prosocial behavior and social preferences

Percentage of children who gave each type of answer to the questions “What is a group?” and “Can you think of any other group besides kindergarten groups?” coded in hierarchical categories from most abstract to most specific.

<p>Percentage of children who gave each type of answer to the questions “What is a group?” and “Can you think of any other group besides kindergarten groups?” coded in hierarchical categories from most abstract to most specific.</p

Study materials.

<p>Pictures for prototypes of (a) an <i>intimacy group</i>, (b) a <i>task group</i>, (c) a <i>social category</i>, and (d) a <i>loose association</i>.</p

The percentage of children who chose each picture for each group characteristics question.

<p>The percentage of children who chose each picture for each group characteristics question.</p

"Exigua pars est vitae qua vivimus. Ceterum quidem omne spatium non vita sed tempus est” : divagazioni semantiche (e lessicali) su spatium e sui suoi esiti romanzi

diasistema latino, attestato in tutta la discretio della lingua che ci è dato conoscere dai testi, spatium manifesta una sorta di liminarità concettuale con tempus che solo a partire da un certo momento si scioglie nella complementarità dell’estensione spaziale e di quella temporale. Muovendo da questi presupposti, questo contributo cercherà di evidenziare la complessa stratificazione semantica di questa lessia di basilare importanza giacché connessa con categorie fondanti per l’esperienza umana tanto dal punto di vista cognitivo, tanto da quello linguistico e pragmatico. Esaurito l’excursus interno al latino si guarderà allora alla continuazione romanza, per cercare di capire se e in quale parte del lessico permangano tracce di quell’originaria complessità di spatium risolta probabilmente prima a livello “lessicografico” che semantico-concettuale