The Enhancement of Altruistic Behaviors in Children through the Implementation of Language Conditioning Procedures

Abstract

In this experiment, 48 fifth grade children were randomly divided into three groups. The 17 children in the language conditioning group observed slides of altruistic scenes paired with positive words. The 15 children in the modeling group observed these same scenes and words, but in random order. The 16 children in the control group experienced no treatment procedures. While both the language conditioning and modeling groups were given models of altruistic behaviors via the slides, only the language conditioning group of children had the benefit of the transference of affect from the positive words to the altruistic scenes. Subsequently, the children from the language conditioning group-but not the modeling group-were found to be significantly more generous than their control group counter-parts. The implications of these findings for teachers and counselors are discussed.