Local community disaster response networks are becoming increasingly vital in areas prone to seasonal flooding. Many volunteers dedicate their time, resources, and even risk their personal safety to rescue stranded individuals and salvage property.
Maya decides to join a local swift-water rescue team to assist residents during a major flood warning. Her colleague, Sam, argues that Maya is doing this because she seeks social prestige, career advancement networking, and praise from her peers. However, Maya's cousin, an evolutionary anthropologist, disagrees, claiming that such risky, cooperative helping behavior is fundamentally biological and driven by evolutionary survival strategies.
Evaluate how far biological and evolutionary explanations can account for prosocial behavior, such as cooperation and altruism. You must make reference to Maya's situation in your response.
88 exam-style questions on Edexcel A Level Psychology Content, covering Central nervous system and neurotransmitters, Effect of recreational drugs on transmission, Brain structure and aggression, Evolution and natural selection, Freud's psychodynamic explanation of aggression, Role of hormones in aggression, Individual differences, and Developmental psychology. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.