piliavin Flashcards
what was the psychology being investigated?
Bystander apathy/ diffusion of responsibility
what is ‘diffusion of responsibility’?
when there are multiple people available to help in an emergency an individual may be less likely to take action because they feel a reduced sense of personal responsibility
what is ‘bystander apathy’
when a bystander does not show concern for a person in need
what were the four variables in the experiment?
the type of victim,
the race of victim,
the behaviour of a ‘model’
the size of group of bystanders
what was the research method
field experiment
what were the four independent variables
the type of victim, drunk or ill
the race of the victim, black or white
the behaviour of model, close or distant, early or late
the size of group of bystanders
what was the dependent variable
the number of bystanders helping
how was the dependent variable operationalised?
the time taken for passengers to help, as well as the amount of passengers who helped
how was qualitative data recorded
verbal remarks made by passengers
what was the sample
ppts travelling between Harlem and the Bronx, on weekdays between 11am and 3pm, estimated 4450 people around 45% black and 55% were white. 43 mean number of passengers per carriage mean number of people in critical area = 8.5
what happened in the critical/ early condition
model stood in the critical area and waited 70 seconds to help the victim
what was the critical / late condition
model stood in the critical area and waited 150 seconds to help the victim
what was the adjacent/ early condition
model stood in the adjacent area and waited 70 seconds to help the victim
what was the adjacent/ late condition
model stood in the adjacent area and waited 250 seconds to help the victim
how was the victim standardised
he was always dressed the same way and acted the same way
describe the models
all white males aged 24 to 29, dressed informally
what did the models do to help
raised the victim to standing position, stayed with him until the train reached the next stop
describe the victims
men aged 26 to 35 years, made to look similar, three white one black, causal clothing, 38 out of 103 trials they appeared to be drunk and the rest ill with a cane
what were the results of this experiment
78 percent of victims received spontaneous help and in 60% of cases more than one person helped, ppts were more likely to help the person with a cane than drunk. 62/65 trials the ill victim received help. The drunk victim received help in 19/38. In the Ill trial, spontaneous help occurred earlier. In all but three cane trials the victim received help before the model. In terms of race, minor evidence of same race helping in the drunk condition. Black victims received less help overall. Majority of helpers were men (90%) women made verbal comments. No evidence for diffusion of responsibility
what model did piliavin propose
the cost benefit model.
what is the cost benefit model?
a person weighs up the advantages and disadvantages of helping, if it seems beneficial to help then the person is more likely to do so.
what did the study find about the duration of the emergency
the longer the emergency continues, the less likely a person is to help, and the more likely it is they will find a way to cope with arousal
what were the strengths, summary
good ecological validity, qualitative and quantitative data, ppts unaware and reduced demand characteristics, some standardisation of victim. Large sample
what were the weaknesses summary
less control over extraneous variables, weather conditions etc which may affect ppts behaviour. cannot be sure ppts took part in the experiment only once. All from same area, unrepresentative lack of generalisability. There were less drunk trials
