Investigating the relationship between altruism and empathy
SCENARIOS
You are interested in investigating the relationship between altruism and empathy. Specifically, you want to know whether focusing on the feelings of a person in need will lead to greater feelings of empathy and more willingness to help than focusing on that person’s thoughts.
The Internet has become an outlet not just for information but for social relationships as well. It is well known that being ostracized from a group has negative consequences for a person. Imagine that you are interested in studying whether the manner in which a person is treated during a social interaction on the Internet affects his or her mood or self-esteem. You design an experiment to test the idea that individuals who are ostracized in an Internet social interaction will show poorer mood and lower self-esteem than those who are accepted.
You are interested in whether changing the format of a lineup will affect the accuracy of eyewitness identification in children and adults. Specifically, you want to know if individuals perform differently on three types of lineups: a standard simultaneous lineup (the witness views all individuals in the lineup at the same time and is asked whether he or she recognizes anyone), a fast elimination lineup (the witness is told to look at the lineup and pick out the person who looks most like the suspect), and a slow elimination lineup (the witness is told to eliminate individuals from the lineup who do not look like the suspect). You are interested in the rates of correct identifications (correctly identifying the suspect), false alarms (saying the suspect is in the lineup when he or she is not), misses (saying the suspect is not in the lineup when he or she is), and correct rejections (correctly saying that the suspect is not present in the lineup).
Thursday, articles evaluating this material will become available to you and you will be able to answer item 7, due by Sunday.
Detailed instructions :
Do the following for the scenario (below) you selected. Your response may be bulleted for each response below, but make sure to write in complete sentences when appropriate:
Write an alternative and null hypothesis. H1 and Ho.
Identify the most appropriate experimental design (e.g., single-factor or factorial) and explain how exactly it qualifies as that type of design.
Specify precisely what the independent variable(s) will be, and how they will be manipulated. Also, specify the number of levels of each independent variable if appropriate.
Specify exactly what the dependent variable(s) will be, and the operational definition for the variable as well as how it will be quantified.
Specify the procedures that will be followed (e.g., how participants will be obtained, where the experiment will be run, and what exactly will take place). This should be detailed enough to clearly illustrate what the manipulation is in the experiment and exactly how the experiment would work.
Indicate what, if anything, would be done to control extraneous variables and eliminate confounding variables.
Indicate if the experiment could be run as a within-subjects or matched-groups design. If so, what would the matching variables be and why? For within-subjects designs, indicate what you would do to address the problems of carryover effects, participant fatigue, habituation, etc.
Sample Solution
Scenario: Empathy and Altruism
This scenario investigates the relationship between how information about a person in need is presented (focusing on feelings vs. thoughts) and its impact on empathy and willingness to help.
Research Question:
Does focusing on the feelings of a person in need lead to greater feelings of empathy and more willingness to help than focusing on that person's thoughts?
Full Answer Section
Hypotheses:
- Alternative Hypothesis (H1): Presenting information about a person in need with a focus on their feelings will lead to greater feelings of empathy and a higher willingness to help compared to presenting information focused on the person's thoughts.
- Null Hypothesis (H0): There is no difference in empathy or willingness to help between the two conditions (feelings vs. thoughts).
Experimental Design:
This experiment will utilize a between-subjects design. Here's why:
- We are manipulating one independent variable (information presentation focus) with two levels (feelings vs. thoughts).
- We are measuring the dependent variables (empathy and willingness to help) at one point in time.
- By using separate groups of participants for each condition, we avoid potential carryover effects that might occur in a within-subjects design.
Independent Variable:
- Information Presentation Focus (2 levels):
- Feelings Focus: The information about the person in need will emphasize their emotions and feelings associated with their situation.
- Thoughts Focus: The information about the person in need will emphasize their thoughts and thought processes related to their situation.
Dependent Variables:
- Empathy:
- Operational Definition: We will measure empathy using a self-reported empathy scale where participants rate their level of emotional understanding and compassion for the person in need.
- Quantification: The empathy scale will use a Likert scale format (e.g., 1 = Not empathetic at all; 7 = Very empathetic).
- Willingness to Help:
- Operational Definition: We will measure willingness to help by presenting participants with a hypothetical scenario where they can choose to donate to a charity that supports the person in need. The amount donated will serve as an indicator of their willingness to help.
- Quantification: The amount of money donated to the charity will be recorded.
Procedures:
- Participants: Recruit volunteers through online platforms or university subject pools. Aim for a sufficient sample size in each group to ensure generalizability.
- Random Assignment: Randomly assign participants to either the Feelings Focus group or the Thoughts Focus group.
- Manipulation: Develop a written scenario describing a person in need. For the Feelings Focus group, the scenario will be written to emphasize the person's emotions and feelings. For the Thoughts Focus group, the scenario will be written to emphasize the person's thoughts and thought processes.
- Presentation: Present the scenario to each participant individually. Ensure they understand the information before proceeding.
- Empathy Measure: Administer the self-reported empathy scale to each participant after reading the scenario.
- Willingness to Help Measure: Present the hypothetical donation scenario to each participant. Explain that any donation amount is appreciated. Record the amount donated by each participant.
- Debriefing: Thank participants for their time and provide a brief explanation of the study's objectives.
Control of Extraneous Variables:
- Demographics: Collect demographic information (age, gender, etc.) and statistically control for any potential influences on the dependent variables.
- Scenario Clarity: Ensure the scenarios are clear and well-written to minimize confusion. Pre-test the scenarios with a small group to ensure they effectively manipulate the independent variable.
- Demand Characteristics: Instruct participants not to guess the purpose of the study and emphasize the importance of their honest responses.
Within-Subjects Design:
While a between-subjects design is chosen here, the experiment could potentially be adapted to a within-subjects design. However, addressing carryover effects would be crucial.
- Matching Variables: Participants could be matched on empathy scores from a pre-test to create comparable groups before manipulation.
- Carryover Effects: To minimize carryover effects, a long washout period between conditions could be implemented, or a counterbalancing design could be used where participants experience both conditions in a random order. However, order effects might still be a concern.
- Participant Fatigue: The experiment would need to be concise to minimize participant fatigue, which could impact responses.