Helping Behavior Among Normal and Retarded Children

SEVERY, LAWRENCE J., and DAVIS, KEITH E. Helping Behavior among Normal and Retarded Children. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1971, 42, 1017-1031. A framework that is applicable to prosocial behavior was developed. Distinctions between psychological versus task helping and attempted versus achieved help were applied to the helping behaviors of normal and retarded children of 2 age groups observed in natural settings. Contrary to expectation, the older normals were not more helpful than the younger normals or retardates. Raw frequencies of helping behavior were greater for younger normals and older retardates who had many opportunities for helping. When opportunities were controlled, the older retardates attempted to help more than any other group and succeeded in helping as often.