Piliavin

Question 1

What is the nickname for the study?

Answer 1

The Good Samaritan Study

Question 2

What was the background to the study?

Answer 2

Kitty Genovese was murdered by a man at night, people heard her screams but nobody helped her or called the police.

Question 3

What does bystander behaviour mean?

Answer 3

What people do when watching an emergency situation.

Question 4

What does bystander apathy mean?

Answer 4

The bystander doesn’t really care about what is happening.

Question 5

What is diffusion of responsibility?

Answer 5

Less likely to take responsibility when others are present.

Question 6

What is your pluralistic ignorance?

Answer 6

Majority of group members privately reject the norm, assume incorrectly that others accept it.

Question 7

What is cost-benefit analysis?

Answer 7

What are the benefits/costs of helping.

Question 8

What is attribution effect?

Answer 8

Explain the cause of a behaviour.

Question 9

What is altruistic behaviour?

Answer 9

Doing for others without expectation/reward.

Question 10

What did Darley & Latane do in their experiments?

Answer 10

Woman falls off chair in next room, epileptic seizure, smoke room studies.
Found people are more likely to be a good samaritan if they observed someone else behave in a prosocial manner.

Question 11

What are the similarities between Darley & Latane and Milgram?

Answer 11

Pre-recorded sections (seizure/screams)
Lab experiments (high levels of control)
Ethics (deception & distress)

Question 12

What are the aims?

Answer 12

• To test bystander behaviour/apathy in a real life setting.
• To see the effect of (IV) on helping behaviour.

Question 13

What were the research methods used?

Answer 13

Field experiment using observational techniques, independent measures, snapshot study

Question 14

What were the main IV’s?

Answer 14

Type of victim (drunk/cane)
Race of the victim (black/white)

Question 15

What were the additional IV’s?

Answer 15

Impact of modelling (intervene/not intervene)
Group size (large/small)

Question 16

What were the DV’s?

Answer 16

Number of people who helped
Time taken to help
Gender, race, location of helpers
Whether people moved away
Any comments made

Question 17

What was the sample?

Answer 17

Estimated 4450 travellers on train
45% black and 55% white
Average number in each carriage - 43
Average number in critical area - 8.5

Question 18

What sampling method was used?

Answer 18

Opportunity sampling (not biased, didn’t know anyone on the train)

Question 19

How many researchers were there?

Answer 19

16 researchers, 4 per group (2 male, 2 female), always in the same groups and roles.

Question 20

What roles did the males/females always play?

Answer 20

Males were always the victim & model, females were always observers.

Question 21

What did the victims look like?

Answer 21

Victims were dressed casually, 3 white & 1 black, 26-35 years old.

Question 22

How many trials occurred and when?

Answer 22

There were 103 trials, between 11am and 3 pm, 15th April to 26th June 1968, 7 1/2 min journey.

Question 23

How were the researchers spread on the train?

Answer 23

Boarded train using different doors, each team varied the location, females sat outside critical area & recorded data. Model & victim stayed standing, victim stood next to pole in centre of critical area.

Question 24

When did the models help?

Answer 24

Critical area - early = 70 seconds
Critical area - late = 150 seconds
Adjacent area - early = 70 seconds
Adjacent area - late = 150 seconds

Question 25

What types of data were created?

Answer 25

Quantitive & qualitative data - mixed methods.

Question 26

What was the quan data produced?

Answer 26

• number of helpers & speed at which they helped
• race, gender, location of helpers
• anyone moved out of critical areas

Question 27

What was the qual data produced?

Answer 27

• comments made by passengers

Question 28

What were some results of the drunk/cane condition?

Answer 28

• cane were helped 95% of the time
• drunk were helped 50% of the time
• In 60% of the trials, help was given by 2+ helpers
• help was offered faster in the cane condition than the drunk

Question 29

What were some results of the race & gender condition?

Answer 29

• if the victim was black, they received less help, less quickly than if the victim was white (especially in the drunk condition)
• a white person was more likely to help a white victim than a black victim in the drunk condition
  -males were more helpful -> 90% of the first helpers were males (more male ppts & victims were male)

Question 30

What were some results for the modelling condition?

Answer 30

• if the model intervened early, more people helped the victim
• small amount of data -> victims were already helped before model stepped in

Question 31

What were some results for the group size condition?

Answer 31

• if there was more passengers in the immediate vicinity, the more likely it would be for help to be given
• found the reverse of Darley + Latane -> diffusion of responsibility not found (lab experiment -> no. of helpers counterbalanced), helpers could see the victim

Question 32

What were some results for the comments made?

Answer 32

• more comments were made in the drunk condition than the cane
• most comments were made when help was given within 70 seconds
• many women made comments
  -> ‘it’s for men to help him’ ‘i never saw this kind of thing before - i don’t know where to look’ ‘you feel so bad when you don’t know what to do’

Question 33

What were some conclusions made?

Answer 33

• Someone who appears drunk will get less help than someone who appears ill
• With a male victim & public helping situation, men were more likely to get help
• No diffusion of responsibility was found
• Same race helping occurs more when victim was drunk
• Results explained using cost-benefit analysis

Question 34

What did findings tell us about human behaviour?

Answer 34

• Contradicts previous lab research - provides useful, valid information
• Realistic setting & large sample - reflects what happens in real life
• Explains many emergency situations