Piliavin’s Study Flashcards
What occurred in 1964 that inspired Piliavin to conduct his study?
Kitty Genovese was stabbed in New York
What happened to Kitty Genovese in 1964?
She was stabbed to death over 35 minutes as her attacker left twice before completing the murder in his 3rd attempt. There were 38 witnesses but no one assisted or even called the police
How many witnesses heard Kitty’s screams?
38 yet all failed to help before she died
What experiment did Darnley and Latané conduct in 1968?
Smoke filled room - which tested diffusion of responsibility by trialing participants alone and with groups of people.
What did Darnley and Latané conclude after the experiment?
People are more likely to intervene alone rather than when they’re in the presence of other people
Why did Piliavin decided to conduct his study after Darnley and Latané?
It was a laboratory experiment and he wanted to improve the ecological validity
Name all 4 hypothesis for Piliavin’s study?
- Drunk victim would receive more help than I’ll victim
- People would help the same race first
- Modelling would encourage help
- Larger groups would lead to less help
Define the term bystander apathy/effect?
People fail to help/act if in the presence of others
Define the term diffusion of responsibility?
When help is needed the more people there are the less/lower the responsibility of each individual (someone else’s problem)
What sampling method was used?
Opportunity sample- people available at the time of the study are used
What/who was Piliavin’s sample?
4450 New York Subway passengers
(55% white, 45% black)
What was the racial divide of Piliavin’s sample?
45% black
55% white
Total of 4450 participants
What is an advantage of opportunity sampling?
It’s quick, easy and convenient
What is a disadvantage of opportunity sampling?
You’re only going to get one type of person in each area (eg, urban/wealthy) so sample isn’t generalisable to the population
Where were the emergencies staged?
On express trains of New York 8th Avenue independent subway
Why was the New York 8th Avenue subway used in the study?
It made no stops between 59th and 125th street which meant they had a captive audience for 7 1/2 minutes
How long were the audience captive?
7 minutes 30 seconds
Over what time period did the study take place?
It took place over 3 months (15th April - 26th June)
When did the experiment take place?
11am - 3pm on weekdays
What is the procedure of Piliavin’s study?
- Teams of 4 university students (2 female observers and 2 male actors).
- Approx. 70s into the journey (as the train passed the first station) they victim stood next to the central pole would stagger forward and collapse. They’d remain on the ground until they received help
- The victim was aged between 26-35 (3 white:1 black) and were identically dressed in Eisenhower jackets, old trousers and no tie.
- if the victim was drunk they’d smell of alcohol and carry a liquor bottle in a brown bag
- if the victim was I’ll they’d carry a black cane
- The model was white 24-29 year old who raised the victim to sitting and remained with them for the rest of the journey (critical/adjacent early/late)
- Observers satin the adjacent area and noted race, age, sex, location, number or each passenger and timed how long it took for help to arrive
- the emergency situation occurred a total of 103 time with 6-8 run per day
