Piliavin Flashcards
Design
Field experiment, indepedent measures design
Sample
4450
Explain how the procedure from Piliavin et al.’s
(1969) study relates to the key theme of responses
to people in need [3]
How would you answer this?
Dependent variable
People in need
What the need was
Explain how the procedure from Piliavin et al.’s
(1969) study relates to the key theme of responses
to people in need [3]
In Piliavin et al’s study passengers response times were
measured when a confederate posed as a person in
need by staggering and then collapsing either by
appearing drunk or disabled
Piliavin et al. carried out a study into responses to
people in need.
Identify two materials used in this study.
Black cane
Paper bag
Give two ways in which this study may be
considered ethnocentric. [2]
Only black and white victims used
All models were white
Compare Piliavin et al.’s study with Levine et al.’s
study into responses to people in need by
suggesting either one difference or one similarity
between them. [4]
How would you answer this?
Identify similarity or difference
Outline
Reference to Piliavin
Reference to Levine
Compare Piliavin et al.’s study with Levine et al.’s
study into responses to people in need by
suggesting either one difference or one similarity
between them. [4]
One similarity is the sampling method. Both studies
used opportunistic sampling. In the case of Piliavin
et al it was members of public how happened to be
travelling on the subway when the fall was staged.
In one of Levine et al’s scenarios, the participants were
pedestrians who happened to be using a crossing at
the same time as a confederate posing as a blind
person.
Aim
To investigate the impact of helping behaviour in an emergency situation in a real life setting of a subway train
Procedure
7.5 min journey on one stretch on a NY subway
Researchers worked in teams of 4: 1 male victim, 1 male model, 2 female observers
4 IVs: Type of victim, Race of victim, Presence of model, Number of bystanders
DV: collected by observers in critical or adjacent area: Time taken to help, number of people who helped, race of helper, gender of helper
Findings
Cane victim received spontaneous help 95% of the time compared to 50% for drunk victim
90% of first helpers were male
slight tendency for same race helping in drunk condition
Conclusions
A cost reward model can predict when help will be given in an emergency situation in which the bystander ways up pros and cons of helping before make the decision to intervene
Similarity between Piliavin et al and Levine
Both studies have high ecological validity
Means how far results can be generalised to real life
P= covert observations on a train where an emergency may happen
L= cover observations in a city with everyday situations such as a dropped pen
Difference between Piliavin and Levine
Piliavin is ethnocentric, levine is not
Ethnocentrism is having a sample limited to one culture or group making it hard to generalise findings
P= 4450PP from NY city
L=1198PP from 23 countries including individualist, collectivist and simpatia
How does Piliavin link to the social area?
Defining Principle - Assumes that people behaviour is affected by the situation that they are in so social psychologists are interested in the effects of social context and environments on behaviour
Interested in helping behaviour in an emergency situation. One variable that was being studied was the diffusion of responsibility; would there be less help the more people there was - Piliavin found no evidence of this
Link to key theme
Helping behaviour can be defined as a type of pro-social behaviour that involved voluntary actions that are intended to benefit someone else.
Investigated helping behaviour on a subway in NY. Findings demonstrated that people are more likely to be helped if they seem to need help due to factors beyond their control.
Background
The case of Kitty Genovese - stabbed with 47 bystanders but no one called the police
Research Method pros and cons
+ field method results in high ecological validity
- however it is difficult to control extraneous variables
Ethical Issues
PPs may feel anxious or distressed or even guilty
PPs did not give consent
Deceived by the actor
Were not able to withdraw their data
No debrief
Validity
He did measure helping behaviour, however PPs could not leave so this might not represent how they would act in real life
Inter-rater Reliability
High
2 observers
covered most of the carriage
timings consistent
Sampling Bias
highly representative however due to the timings people were likely observed more than once
Usefulness
Relevant to the time period only (1969) women now have more rights and feel safer in society so may be more willing to help
only shows how people who react in one situation only
