Piliavin Et Al Flashcards
Define bystander apathy
Observer has lack of help or interest
What is the diffusion of responsibility
Not acting on something because they believe other people will
What is altruism
The selfless concern for the wellbeing of others
What were the four aims
Type of victim - ill with a cane or drunk
Race of victim - black or white
Number of witness - whether there are lots of people available to help
Model prescience - whether there is someone else setting an example of helping behaviour
What were the independent variables
Race (white or black)
Type (ill or drunk)
Early or late (critical area)
Early or late (adjacent area)
What were the dependent variables
Time taken for the first person to help
Total number of helpers
Gender/race/location of help
Time for first help after model steps in
Spontaneous comments and movements
What type of experiment was the study
A field experiment
What is a field experiment
A research method with IV, DV and controls but in a real life setting
Who inspired Piliavins study
Kitty genovese
What happened to Kitty Genovese
On 13th March 1964, she was attacked and stabbed on three separate occasions in Kew Gardens
38 people witnessed and only one called the police once she was dead
What experiment did Darley and Latane carry out and what findings did they gather
They conducted a study where participants overheard someone having a seizure
85% of people helped if alone
62% of people helped if in a pair
31% of people helped in a group of 5
What were the four hypotheses
Type - a drunk person would get less help than an ill victim
Race - people would help those of the same race as them
Number of witnesses - larger the group, the less likely for the victim to get help
Model presence - seeing a model help would encourage others to help
What were the characteristics of the sample
4450 passengers of both men and women over a three month period
45% black and 55% white
Mean number of passengers per carriage was 43
What were the characteristics of the sample
4450 passengers of both men and women over 3 months
45% black and 55% white
Mean number of passengers per carriage was 43
What sampling method was used
Opportunity - researchers used passengers who happened to be in New York Subway taking the express train from 8th avenue between 59th and 125th street between 11am and 3pm on a weekday
What was the procedure carried out
The journey was approximately 7.5minutes
1. 70 seconds into the journey the victim would collapse in the critical area and stare at the ceiling until helped
2. After a further 70 or 150 seconds an informally dressed white male model would help the victim
3. Two female observers were sat in the adjacent area recording variables such as sex, race and location of helpers
What were the characteristics of the confederates
- males
- aged 26-35
- 3 were white and 1 was black
- dressed in Eisenhower jackets, old trousers, shirt and no tie
- 38 drunk trials - smelled of alcohol and carried a liquor bottle in a brown paper bag
- 65 ill trials - can/ill victim appeared sober and carried a black cane
What could piliavin control
- victims and models as well as their behaviour
- seats/location or victim, model and observer
- same stations and times
What did piliavin have no control over
- ability to view if the carriage was crowded
- another emergency takes place
- time of journey if delayed
- repeat passengers after 3 months
What were the quantitative findings
Ill victims received help 95% of the time (62/65)
Drunk victims received help 50% of the time (19/38)
It took passengers a median time of 5 seconds to help an ill victim
It took passengers a median time of 109 seconds for a drunk victim to receive help
90% of first helpers were male
34 people left the critical area
What were the qualitative findings
Race did not have a large effect on who helped whom
Black victims received slightly less help however not significant
Models were rarely needed to step in
The number of bystanders made no difference to how many people helped
What were two quotes collected
“It’s for men to help”
“You feel bad when you don’t know what to do”
What were the conclusions found
The state of the victim affects how likely people are to help
Males are more likely to help than females
Race makes no difference
There was no diffusion of responsibility
What were the explanations for the findings found
- Passengers were trapped on the train and could not really leave the situation
- It was less effort for passengers to help if they were sitting on the train anyway waiting for the next stop
- It was clear what the problem was for bystanders near the victim
What is the arousal cost- reward model
That for everything done there are both costs and rewards of each option and people subconsciously make a judgement call
What were the materials needed to carry out the field experiment
- victim costumes
- victim props
- observer notebooks
- watch or stopwatch
What were the strengths of the study
- the area has a diverse population
- the procedure was controlled
- the participants were likely to act natural as unaware of being watched
- the sample was large
- it is likely someone would fall over so realistic scenario
- procedure was repeated many times
What were the weaknesses of the study
- it was only conducted in one place
- participants did not know they were in a study
- it could have been upsetting to see someone fall over so realistic
- people may have realised it was fake if they were on the train everyday
- unrealistic for people to be drunk in the middle of the day
- the victim did not try to get up themselves
- there were some things they could not control
