The tendency to avoid helping other people in emergencies when other people are also present and apparently capable of helping is known as the __________.

A) polarization effect
B) actor-observer effect
C) bystander effect
D) recency effect

The bystander effect is a phenomenon where individuals are less likely to offer help or assistance to a victim when other people are present. This is because individuals assume that someone else in the group will take responsibility for helping, resulting in a diffusion of responsibility. The other options are incorrect: the polarization effect refers to a situation where group members polarize their views based on the group's initial stance; the actor-observer effect refers to the tendency to attribute our own behavior to external factors and the behavior of others to internal factors; and the recency effect refers to the phenomenon where people are more likely to remember the most recently presented information.