The effect of one positive reinforcement on helping with cost

Abstract

Twenty male college student subjects were divided into two groups. One group received reinforcement when they helped a female confederate following a request for aid, the other group did not. The helping gesture involved the volunteering by the subject to take an electrical shock which he believed could go to the confederate. The reinforcement was a “Thank you” from the confederate. Subjects who received the reinforcement continued to volunteer for shock while those who did not disctontinued volunteering. © 1975, The Psychonomic Society, Inc.. All rights reserved.