S - Piliavin Flashcards
Aim
conduct a field experiment to investigate the effect of several different variables on who responded to help, the speed of responding and the likelihood of responding.
Background
In 1964 at 3.30AM 28 year old Kitty Genovese was stabbed to death by a knife wielding attacker outside her apartment in New York. Her screams woke up 38 of her neighbours although no one intervened
Method
- The study was a field experiment.
- The field situation was the A and D trains of the 8th Avenue New York Subway between 59th Street and 125 Street. The journeys lasted about 7½ minutes.
- The experiment had four independent variables (IVs):
(i) Type of victim (drunk or carrying a cane).
(ii) Race of victim (black or white).
(iii) Effect of a model (after 70 or 150 seconds, from the critical or adjacent area), or no model at all.
(iv) Size of the witnessing group (a naturally occurring independent variable). - The dependent variables (DVs) - recorded by two female observers seated in the adjacent area - were:
(i) Frequency of help.
(ii) Speed of help.
(iii) Race of helper.
(iv) Sex of helper.
(v) Movement out of critical area.
(vi) Verbal comments by bystanders.
Sample
- Participants were about 4,450 men and women who used the New York subway on weekdays between 11.00 am and 3.00 pm between April 15 and June 26, 1968.
- About 45% were black, 55% white.
Procedure
- There were 4 teams of 4 researchers: 2 female observers, 2 males – one acting as victim, one the model.
- The victims (3 white, 1 black) were all male, General Studies students, aged 26-35 years, and dressed alike. They either smelled of liquor and carried a liquor bottle wrapped tightly in a brown bag or appeared sober and carried a black cane. In all aspects they acted identically in both conditions.
- The models (all white) were males aged 24-29 years. There were 4 model conditions:
(i) Critical area - early.
(ii) Critical area – late.
(iii) Adjacent area – early.
(iv) Adjacent area – late. - The observers recorded the dependent variables. On each trial one observer noted the race, sex and location of every rider seated or standing in the critical area. In addition she counted the total number of individuals who came to the victim’s assistance. She also recorded the race, sex and location of every helper. The second observer coded the race, sex and location of all persons in the adjacent area. She also recorded the latency of the first helper’s arrival after the victim had fallen and on appropriate trials, the latency of the first helper’s arrival after the programmed model had arrived. Both observers recorded comments spontaneously made by nearby passengers and attempted to elicit comments from a rider sitting next to them.
- The victim stood near a pole in the critical area. After about 70 seconds he staggered forward and collapsed. Until receiving help he remained supine on the floor looking at the ceiling. If he received no help by the time the train stopped the model helped him to his feet. At the stop the team disembarked and waited separately until other passengers had left the station. They then changed platforms to repeat the process in the opposite direction.
- Between 6-8 trials were run on a given day, all using the same ‘victim condition’.
- There were more cane trials than drunk trials which were distributed unevenly across black and white victims because Team 2 violated intructions by running cane rather than drunk trials because the victim “didn’t like” playing the drunk! Subsequent student strikes prevented additional trials to correct this.
Results
- The cane victim received spontaneous help 95% of the time (62/65 trails) compared to the drunk victim 50% of the time (19/38 trials).
- Overall there was 100% help for the cane victim compared to 81% help for the drunk victim.
- Help was offered more quickly to the cane victim (a median of 5 seconds compared to 109 seconds delay for the drunk victim).
- On 49/81 (60%) trials when help was given this was provided by 2 or more helpers.
- 90% of the first helpers were males.
- There was a slight tendency for same race helping especially in the drunk condition.
- No diffusion of responsibility was found, in fact response times were faster with larger groups than smaller.
- More comments were made by passengers in the drunk than the cane condition and most comments were made when no help was given within the first 70 seconds.
Conclusions
- An individual who appears ill is more likely to receive help than one who appears drunk.
- With mixed groups of men and women, men are more likely than women to help a male victim.
- With mixed-race groups, people are more likely to help those of the same race as themselves, particularly if they deem the victim’s situation to be of his own making e.g. drunk.
- There is no strong relationship between number of bystanders and speed of helping when an incident is visible.
- When escape is not possible and bystanders are face-to-face with a victim, help is likely to be forthcoming.
- Bystanders conduct a cost-reward analysis before deciding whether or not to help a victim.
- Subsequent spontaneous help from others was irrespective of race or victim type.
Method Evaluation
Field experiment
This means that it will have high ecological validity as it has taken place in a real life setting – Ps are behaving in their natural way.
The study took place on a subway in New York for a 7 ½ minute train journey
The field experiments were not subject to demand characteristics, as the travellers on the underground train did not know they were part of an experiment so their behaviour would have been a ntural
Field experiment
There is low control over EV’s as this is taken place in a natural setting
Some of the passengers may have witnessed the collapsing on several occasions as therefore would have responded differently.
Data
Quantitative data was collected
This allowed the different victims to be easily compared
They found that 100% of cane victims received help and 81% of drunk victims
A
Qualitative data was also collected
This allowed the observers to understand why people didn’t help
90% of the helpers were male. Females were heard to say that it’s for men to help him, or I wish I could help but I’m not strong enough
Ethics
However the study did comply to APA guidance
Confidentiality was kept
There a number of ethical issues associated with Piliavin et al.’s study. Participants were unaware that they were taking part in an experiment, therefore they could not consent to take part and it was also not possible to withdraw from the study or be debriefed. Furthermore, seeing a victim collapse may have been stressful for the participants, they also may have felt guilty if they didn’t help, therefore leading to psychological harm.
Reliability
There were high levels of standardised procedures and controls
The study place over 3 months and 4450 people were tested over a number of trials
All the victims wore the same clothes, fell down at the same time, stood in the same area. The models also entered at the same time
Because of methodological problems, there were more cane trials than drunk trials and more white victims than black victims. Therefore the results from each group’s trials cannot always be reliably compared with each other.
Validity
Field experiment
This means that it will have high ecological validity as it has taken place in a real life setting – Ps are behaving in their natural way.
The study took place on a subway in New York for a 7 ½ minute train journey
The field experiments were not subject to demand characteristics, as the travellers on the underground train did not know they were part of an experiment so their behaviour would have been a ntural
Field experiment
There is low control over EV’s as this is taken place in a natural setting - low internal validity
Some of the passengers may have witnessed the collapsing on several occasions as therefore would have responded differently.
Sampling Bias
The sample size was also very large and we would assume a fairly representative sample of New Yorkers
It included both males and females
A
However it was just p’s were rode the subway at that particular time
Ethnocentrism
Harlem to the Bronx in New York.
