Piliavin et al. (1969) Flashcards
(Piliavin et al) The study investigates the key them of _______ _________.
Helping behaviour.
(Piliavin et al) What is altruism?
Doing something for someone else without getting anything for yourself.
(Piliavin et al) What is an extrinsic reward?
External, physical rewards (money, gifts, a chance for a promotion etc.).
(Piliavin et al) What is an intrinsic reward?
Internal, emotional rewards (feeling good about yourself etc.).
(Piliavin et al) What does the study investigate?
Whether people are altruistic or whether people will always put themselves first before helping others.
(Piliavin et al) Recall the story of Kitty Genovese.
She was a 28-year-old woman who was murdered in New York in 1964 while she was walking home.
The attack was approximately 35 minutes long.
During the stabbings, the killer fled the scene when he saw witnesses but retuned twice more.
There we 38 witnesses to the attack, but no one assisted Kitty or called the police.
She was murdered on the third attack.
(Piliavin et al) What is bystander apathy?
Where people fail to act and help someone in need when others are present.
(Piliavin et al) What is the diffusion of responsibility?
Bystanders do not take responsibility to help victims when there are other bystanders present as each feels as if someone else can help.
(Piliavin et al) What is the aim of the study?
To investigate how a group of people would react if they saw someone collapsed on a train.
- Would an ill person get more help than a drunk person?
- Would people show ethnocentric behaviour?
- Would the intervention of a ‘model’ influence others?
- Would the size of the group of bystanders influence help?
(Piliavin et al) What was the hypotheses of the study?
- A drunk person would get less help than an ill person.
People would help others that are of the same race. - Seeing one person help would encourage others to help.
- The larger the group, the less likely it is that help will come (diffusion of responsibility).
(Piliavin et al) What was the design of Piliavin’s experiment?
Field experiment.
(Piliavin et al) Fill in the gaps: The study took place on a carriage of a ___ ____ ______ train (8th Avenue Express). Passengers on the train were not aware of the experiment.
1) New York Subway
(Piliavin et al) Fill in the gaps: Trails took place over _ months, on ________ between __am and _pm. Each trail would take place in between the same two stops, as there was a ___ minute period where there would be no interruptions.
1) 3
2) weekdays
3) 11
4) 3
5) 7.5
(Piliavin et al) What would happen 70 seconds into the train journey?
A victim would stagger forwards and collapse on the train.
(Piliavin et al) What were the independent variables?
- If the victim appeared drunk (smelt of alcohol) or ill (held a cane).
- If the victim was either black or white.
- If a model would help the victim.
- Number of passengers on the train varied.
(Piliavin et al) What was kept the same, regarding the victim?
Always male, aged between 26-35 and wore the same clothes.
(Piliavin et al) If there was a model present, they would offer help at different points on different days, these points were:
- Model: critical area: quickly = 70 seconds
- Model: critical area: slowly = 150 seconds
- Model: adjacent area: quickly: far from victim
- Model: adjacent area: slowly
- No model
(Piliavin et al) Describe the 4 teams of university students who conducted the study.
2 males played the parts of the victim and model.
2 females were observers and recorded:
- The race, gender, and location of passengers on the whole train.
- The race, gender and location of passengers who helped the victim.
- How long it took passengers to help.
- What passengers said to each other once they noticed the victim.
