A Level Psychology OCR Practice Exam

Which of the following was NOT one of the helping scenarios examined in Levine et al.'s study?

1. Helping a child pick up toys

2. Helping a blind person cross the street

3. Picking up a dropped pen

4. Assisting an individual with a hurt leg

The correct answer is: Helping a child pick up toys

In Levine et al.'s study on helping behaviors, the scenarios chosen were designed to explore different aspects of prosocial behavior across various cultures. The scenarios typically included everyday situations where individuals could offer assistance to strangers, reflecting real-life helping situations. The scenario of "helping a child pick up toys" does not fit within the typical parameters examined in their research. Levine et al. focused more on encounters involving adults in potentially urgent or socially significant situations, like assisting a blind person or picking up a dropped pen. These scenarios were likely selected to emphasize the immediate need for help or to measure spontaneous prosocial responses. By contrast, helping a child pick up toys might not involve the same level of adult-to-adult interaction or urgency, making it less relevant to the aims of the study. This indicates that it was not a situation that Levine et al. specifically looked at in their exploration of prosocial behavior within the context they were studying.