Piliavin's Good Samaritanism

Question 1

How many subjects were in the experiment?

Answer 1

4450 men and women

Question 2

Where did the experiment take place?

Answer 2

On the 8th Avenue IND line in New York City

Question 3

When did the experiment take place?

Answer 3

Weekdays between the hours of 11am and 3pm during the period of April 15th to June 26th, 1968

Question 4

What is the journey of the train?

Answer 4

Harlem to the Bronx

Question 5

What was the racial composition of the train?

Answer 5

45% black and 55% white

Question 6

What was the mean number of people per carriage?

Answer 6

43

Question 7

What was the mean number of people in the “critical area”?

Answer 7

8.5

Question 8

Which trains were selected and why?

Answer 8

The A and D trains because they made no stops between 59th Street and 125th Street

Question 9

For how long was there a captive audience and how many seconds into the journey did the victim faint?

Answer 9

About 7.5 minutes

After the first 70 seconds the victim fainted

Question 10

Why were the trials only run on old New York Subway cars?

Answer 10

They had two-person seats in a group arrangement rather than extended seats

Question 11

Where was the designated critical area?

Answer 11

The end section of any car whose doors led to the next car

Question 12

How many seats were there in the critical area?

Answer 12

13 seats plus some standing room

Question 13

What were the teams made up of?

Answer 13

Four Columbia General Studies students- two males, two females

Question 14

How many different teams were there?

Answer 14

Four

Question 15

How many different trials did the teams do?

Answer 15

103

Question 16

What did the female members of the teams do in the trial?

Answer 16

Took seats outside of the critical area and recorded the data as unobtrusively as possible

Question 17

What did the ‘victim’ do in the trial?

Answer 17

He always stood next to a pole in the middle of the critical area
As the train passed the first station, the victim staggered forward and collapsed
Until the victim received help, he would remain on the floor, looking at the ceiling

Question 18

What did the ‘model’ do in the trial?

Answer 18

If the ‘victim’ received no help by the time the train had come to a stop, the ‘model’ helped him to his feet

Question 19

Where did the team disembark?

Answer 19

At the stop

Question 20

How many trials were run on a given day?

Answer 20

6 to 8

Question 21

What were the ages of the four ‘victims’?

Answer 21

Between 26 and 35

Question 22

What was the race of each of the four ‘victims’?

Answer 22

3 were white, 1 was black

Question 23

What were the ‘victims’ wearing?

Answer 23

All dressed identically in Eisenhower jackets, old slacks and no tie

Question 24

In how many of the trials did the ‘victim’ smell of liquor and what did the men carry in this trial?

Answer 24

38 trials

A liquor bottle tightly wrapped in a brown bag

Question 25

What was the condition of the ‘victims’ in 65 of the trials and what did they carry in these trials?

Answer 25

The men appeared sober

They carried a black cane

Question 26

What was the race of each of the four ‘models’

Answer 26

All four were white

Question 27

What were the ages of the four ‘models’?

Answer 27

Between 24 and 29

Question 28

What were the ‘models’ wearing?

Answer 28

They were all dressed in informal clothing but they were not dressed identically

Question 29

How many different ‘model’ conditions were there?

Answer 29

Four

Question 30

What was the ‘Critical area- early’ condition?

Answer 30

‘Model’ stood in critical area and waited until passing the fourth station to assist victim (about 70 seconds after collapse)

Question 31

What was the ‘Critical area- late’ condition?

Answer 31

‘Model’ stood in critical area and waited until passing the sixth station to assist victim (about 150 seconds after collapse)

Question 32

What was the ‘Adjacent area- early’ condition?

Answer 32

‘Model’ stood in middle of car in area adjacent to critical area and waited until passing fourth station to assist victim (about 70 seconds after collapse)

Question 33

What was the ‘Adjacent area- late’ condition?

Answer 33

‘Model’ stood in adjacent area and waited until passing sixth station to assist victim (about 150 seconds after collapse)