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Question 17

Eco-Guardian vs Resource Tycoon: Immersive Simulations and Ecological Decisions

Immersive digital training and gaming environments are increasingly used to shape corporate culture and real-world ethical decisions. The roles and objectives assigned to individuals in virtual spaces may influence their subsequent civic and environmental behaviors.

To investigate this, researchers recruited 80 corporate employees (aged 22 to 45 years old). The participants were randomly allocated to one of two conditions in a high-fidelity virtual simulation:

  • Condition 1 (Eco-Guardian): Participants controlled an aerial drone tasked with planting seeds, clearing plastic waste from rivers, and protecting endangered wildlife habitats (pro-environmental behavior).
  • Condition 2 (Resource Tycoon): Participants controlled a heavy industrial excavator tasked with clearing forests, strip-mining minerals, and bypassing ecological regulations to maximize corporate revenue (extractive/environmentally damaging behavior).

After 25 minutes of simulation gameplay, participants completed the session and were compensated with 10 raffle tickets for a local luxury hamper. As they exited the laboratory, they passed a clearly labelled donation box where they could optionally drop any number of their raffle tickets to support a local community reforestation charity. Researchers recorded the number of raffle tickets each participant chose to donate.

Explain how useful social learning theory could be in accounting for the findings of this "Eco-Guardian vs Resource Tycoon" study.

[6]
Markscheme

Content Questions

  1. A Level
  2. /Psychology
  3. /Content

205 exam-style questions on Edexcel A Level Psychology Content, covering Main features of classical conditioning, Pavlov (1927) salivation in dogs, Main features of operant conditioning, Properties of reinforcement, Behaviour modification and shaping, Main features of social learning theory, Social learning stages, Bandura (1961, 1963) Bobo doll experiments, Bandura (1965) vicarious reinforcement, Learning theories and phobias, Treatments for phobias, Individual differences, and Developmental psychology. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.

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