Piliavin - (Subway Samaritan) Flashcards
What is the bystander effect?
Is a phenomenon is which persons are less likely to intervene in an emergency situation when others are present compared to when they’re alone
Who is Kitty Genovese and what happened to her?
A famous murder victim who was seen by 38 people but wasn’t helped between her attacker first stabbing her then coming back to rape, rob and then finally murder her
What is the aim of Piliavin’s study?
To investigate, in a natural setting, factors that influence bystander behaviour:
- Type of victim
- Race of victim
- Impact of modelling
- Group size
Who were the participants used in Piliavin’s study?
4,450 American people - 55% were black, 8.5 people in critical area
Where and when was Piliavin’s study carried out?
On the 8th Avenue Express subway train in New York City weekdays between 11am and 3pm over a 2 month period in 1968
What was the procedure of Piliavin’s study?
- 4 students board the train separately
- 4 teams of 4 members
- 2 girls acted as observers sat outside critical area
- 70secs in victim fell and lay on his back
- Model would help the victim if no one else did after 7.5minutes
Where was the start and end points of Piliavin’s study?
59th - 125th street
Who were the victims in Piliavin’s study?
4 victims aged 26-35, one was black and all dressed identically.
38 trials drunk and 65 trials sober
Who were the models in the Piliavin’s study?
Four white males aged 24-29
The model either didn’t help, helped after 70secs or helped after 150secs
What were the measures collected in Piliavin’s study?
•race,sex and location of every person in critical area
•Total number of people in carriage
• Total number of people who helped victim
•Race, sex and location of every helper
Second helper
•Race, sex and location in the adjacent area
•Time when help was first offered
What was the overall frequency of helping in Piliavin’s study?
81/103 trials saw help within 70 seconds
What were the results of the drunk vs Cane condition in Piliavin’s study?
- the cane victim received help 62/65 of times
- the drunk victim received help 19/38 of times
- 17% of victims in the drunk condition were helped in 70 seconds compared to 87% cane victims
What were the results of the race of the victim within Piliavin’s study?
White people were more helpful - 64% of the spontaneous helpers
Black victims received help less quickly
What were the results of the diffusion of responsibility effect in Piliavin’s study?
As group size increased, helpfulness increased
What is the cost-reward matrix in Piliavin’s study?
If reward is higher than cost then the participant will help and vice versa
