piliavin et al. Flashcards
background
Kitty Genovese was murdered in 1964, New York. Surrounded by onlookers in a nearby building she died from the murder as no one called the police, only one person called once she was dead. People said they were too afraid or didn’t want to get involved. The attack took place over 35 minutes in which the assailant stabbed her 3 times and raped her.
aim
To investigate under real-life conditions the effect on the speed and frequency of helping, and the race of the helper.
method
Field experiment as it took place on an underground system in New York with observational aspects.
Strengths: Still some control. More reliable. More valid. High ecological validity.
Weaknesses: Less control over extraneous variables. Less ethical.
IV & DV & control
IV: Type of victim, drunk or cane. Race of victim, black or white. Presence of helpers, early none of late. Size of witness group, 1-3 4-6 or 7+ DV: Frequency of help. Speed of help. Race of helper. Gender of helper. Movement out of the area. control: The performance of the victims and the models were consistent.
sample
The sample was opportunistic as they used whoever was on the train at the time of the study. It was estimated that 4450 people were used of varying ages, gender, and race.
Strengths:
Diverse sample. Generalisable. No bias.
Weaknesses:
Participant variables. Extraneous variables. Excludes people who work or go to school.
procedure
The field experiment took place over two months. 2 students board the train, two girls (observers) and two boys (one victim, one model). The victim would wait until the train had left the station before collapsing. he would lay on his back until help came or they reached the next station. The model would either wait for 70 seconds or 150 seconds before helping or not help at all.
procedure: prt 2
The two observers would be located in the adjacent area, on near the critical area the other further away. They would observe what happened in the train car and make recordings. The victim would be located in the critical area in front of the entrance to the next car.
validity
participants were forced into staying and in a real situation they wouldn’t be so they were not acting as they normally would lowering the validity of the results.
reliability
There is high inter-rater reliability as there were two observers recording the same information which could be triangulated. The observers covered most of the carriage so all information was gathered. The timings were consistent and the way in which the study was conducted was standardised. However it could be low in reliability due to the extraneous variables associated with the study being conducted in a subway.
ethics
They didn’t have explicit consent from the participants to include them in their sample. However we do know that when we step outside our front door we will be watched by passers-by during the day so in a way, implicit consent was given by being on the subway.
They could have caused the participants psychological harm as they were in a stressful situation and could not leave. Guilt could follow for not helping as there was no debrief.
They are deceiving the participants as the victim doesn’t really need help.
control
There were too many extraneous variables that could have influenced the study and too many to control. However, there was consistency in the intended controls.
sample
It is a highly representative sample however it is limited due to the timings of the study as not all people would have an equal chance of being used due to work or school.
data
Time-consuming to collect and analyze both types of data. however, it does give rich and detailed information to draw more valid conclusions.
usefulness
Relevant to the time period only, women have more rights and feel safer in society so may be more willing to help.
Shows how people would respond in that situation only, in other circumstances results may vary.
