Wired To Help

An interesting study about altruism that makes perfect sense.

From the British Psychological Society...

Surely one of the most charming sights is of an adult struggling to reach an object, only for a toddler to pick up that object and hand it to the adult. Psychologists think such ingrained altruism has evolved as a consequence of our species' dependence on group living for survival.

Sixty 18-month-old infants were shown eight photos of household objects, such as teapots, books or shoes. Infants were divided into four groups, with each group shown one of four versions of these photos. One version featured in the background two dolls standing together side by side; another version featured a doll in the background on its own; the third version featured two dolls facing away from each other; and the final version merely had toy bricks in the background.

After they'd been shown these photos, another experimenter walked over to the infants and dropped a bunch of pens on route. Amazingly, the infants who'd seen the photos with the companionable dolls in the background were three times as likely as the other infants to help the experimenter by spontaneously picking up one or more sticks and handing it to the experimenter.

According to the researchers, "the connections between affiliation to the group and prosocial behaviour are ... so fundamental that, even in infancy, a mere hint of affiliation is sufficient to increase helping."

Maybe the teabaggers and some Republicans should be shown the companionable doll photo.