Piliavin Flashcards
Explain the background of Piliavin’s study. (4)
- The murder of Kitty Genovese in New York City in 1964.
- Was followed and assaulted near her home.
- One witness temporarily scared off the attacker when she screamed for help but returned later on.
- There were reportedly 38 eye and ear witnesses all who failed to prevent the crime.
Define the diffusion of responsibility. (4)
- An individual is less likely to act in an emergency situation where others are present and available to help.
- The feeling of responsibility is shared among a group so no one specifically feels required to help.
- The larger the group , the less help.
- For example; during kitty genovese’s murder nobody tried to help her.
Define bystander behaviour.
The way an individual acts in the presence of an emergency situation.
What is the aim of Piliavin’s study? (5)
Researchers aimed to study bystander behaviour and the effect of 4 situational variables on helping.
1. type of victim
2. race of victim
3. behaviour of a model
4. size of bystander group
What was the type of research method was used in Piliavin’s study?
Field experiment.
What was the type of research design was used in Piliavin’s study?
Independent measures design.
What were the IVs in Piliavin’s study? (4)
1- Type of victim ; ill or drunk
2- Race of victim ; black or white
3- Behaviour of model ; close or distant and early or late
4- Size of bystander group
What is the DV in Piliavin’s study?
Level of bystander helping.
State the quantitative data in Piliavin’s study. (5)
1- Time taken for 1st passenger to help.
2- Total number of helping passengers.
3- Race.
4- Gender.
5- Location in carriage.
State the qualitative data in Piliavin’s study.
Verbal remarks made by the passengers.
Describe the sample in Piliavin’s study. (6)
- Individuals using the underground service from Harlem to Bronx on weekdays from 11am to 3pm.
- Unsolicited opportunity sampling as no consent was given.
- Total average of passengers were 4450 , 43 per carriage and 8.5 in critical area.
- 45% were black and 55% were white.
Describe the roles of the confederates.
- 2 male and 2 female.
- Female confederates sat in the area adjacent to the critical area and took notes.
- One of the males played the victim, the other played the model.
What did observer 1 record in Piliavin’s study? (4)
- Number of people in the car.
- Race, sex and location of passengers in the critical area.
- How many people assisted the victim.
- Comments made by passengers.
What did observer 2 record in Piliavin’s study? (3)
- Race, sex and location of passengers in the adjacent area.
- Time taken to assist after collapse.
- Comments made by passengers.
What were the controls in Piliavin’s study? (4)
- Victim always fell 70 seconds into the ride.
- Victim would remain still on the floor looking upwards.
- Dressed in casual clothes.
- Always behaved the same.
What was the drunk condition ?
Victim would smell of alcohol and always held a brown bag.
What was the ill condition?
Victim always held a black cane.
State and explain each of the model trials. (5)
1- Critical early: model stood in critical area and waited 70 seconds to help victim.
2- Critical late: model stood in critical area and waited 150 seconds to help victim.
3- Adjacent early: model stood in adjacent area and waited 70 seconds to help victim.
4- Adjacent late: model stood in adjacent area and waited 150 seconds to help victim.
5- No model condition: model didn’t help until train reached next stop.
Results of Piliavin’s study. (4)
- 80% received spontaneous help..
- 60% of cases had help from more than one person.
- 20% of passengers left the critical area when someone collapsed.
- 90% of helpers were male.
Results of each IV in Piliavin’s study. (3)
- Type of victim: more likely to help ill than drunk and received help faster.
- Type of race: both races received 100% help when ill, only white received 100% when drunk. People are more likely to help others of the same race.
- Gender: 90% of helpers were men.
State the effect of modelling in Piliavin’s study.
Early model intervention was slightly more likely to result in helping behaviour.
State the comments made in Piliavin’s study.
- Its for men to help him
- I wish I could help him - I’m not strong enough
- I never saw this kind of thing before - I don’t know where to look
- You feel so bad that you don’t know what to do
What observations were made about the comments in Piliavin’s study? (2)
- Higher number of comments made during trials without helping.
- More comments made about drunk victim.
Explain cost-benefit analysis.
Involves a decision making process where the person weighs the advantages and disadvantages of helping and acts whether or not it is beneficial for them to help.
State the conclusions of Piliavin’s study. (5)
- Many people would offer spontaneous help in a natural setting even in a group situation.
- This study showed no evidence of the diffusion of responsibility.
- A victim using a cane is more likely to receive help than the drunk victim.
- Men are more likely to help than women.
- People are more likely to help those of their own race.
