Social psychology Flashcards
(19 cards)
social area assumptions
all behaviour occurs in a social context
behaviour is influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of others.
Pilliavins background, aim and sample
Background- Kitty Genovese, pluralistic ignorance and diffusion of responsibility,
Aim- investigate how nature of situation affects helping behaviour,
Sample- 4500 men and woman on NYC subway on weekdays between 11am and 5pm between stops A and D, the journey was 7.5 mins. 45% were black, 55% were white.
Pilliavins research method (IV and DV)
Was a field experiment,
4 IV= race of victim, type of victim, size of witnessing group (naturally occurring), effect of model (70 or 150secs)
6 DV’s= race of help, speed of help, freq of help, gender of help, age of help and any verbal comments made.
Pilliavins procedure
4 males acted as victim, they were 3 white and 1 black, all general studies students, dressed alike, act identically.
Either acted drunk or ill
Drunk person smelt of liquor and had a brown paper bag with a bottle in whereas ill person was sober with a cane.
Victim stood near pole in critical area, moved forward and collapsed after 70 secs, if no help was received by the end of journey model helped them.
2 female observers are sat nearby trying to elicit comments for people nearby.
Effect of model means Critical area- early, (70 secs)
Critical-late (150 secs)
Adjacent area- early
Adjacent-late
Piliavins results and conclusions
quantitative
95% of cane pps recieved help, only 50% of drunk
average help time for cane was 5 seconds whereas drunk was 105 secs.
90% of first helpers were males.
qualitative
verbal comments like “its a mans job to help”
conclusions
pps conducted a cost benefit analysis of helping someone, (cost- danger benefit- self gratification)
men are more likely to help
someone ill is more likely to receive help than someone drunk.
Piliavins issues and debates
Practical applications- educate ppl on bystander effect and intervention, encourage to break down stereotypes and help people no matter the situation they are in.
Psych as a science- to an extent, is not due to field so little control over EV’s. HOWEVER it is is standardised procedure and has quantitative data
Determinism,
nurture,
situational
Milgrams background, aim, sample and sampling method
background- investigate the germans are different hypothesis, see if they are dispositionally different due to their behaviour in ww2.
aim- investigate level of obedience to an authority figure when told to administer electric shocks.
sample- 40 males, aged between 20 and 50, from Newhaven,USA with a range of occupations including teacher
sampling method- volunteer, advetised in newspaper, paid $4.50 to take part, told it was study of memory
Milgrams method
controlled observation
took place in Yale university in a lab
involved 2 confederates- Jack Williams- stern man in lab coat, Mr Wallace, likeable
acted as if Mr Wallace and pps had equal chance of being the learner, however was rigged
pps saw Mr Wallace strapped to electric chair, and were adminsitered electric shock themselves to make them beliebe it was real
fake elctric shock box, marked with severe shock, moderate shock etc. went up to 450V.
pps tested Mr Wallance on memory word pairs, everytime he got wrong got electric shock, each time going up in 15V.
if pps didnt want to continue, told there was no permanent damage
when tried to stop, they received standardised prods e.g. “the experiment requires that you continue”
was observed and filmed through one way mirror
at end pps were debrief and reunited with Mr Wallace to show he was okay.
Milgrams results and conclusions
results- 100% obeyed to 300V
65% obeyed to 450v
3 had seizures
pps showed signs of nervousness, bouncing leg fiddlings with hnands etc
findings- germans are not dispositionally different, situation causes pp lto enter agentic state causing them to obey
Milgrams issues and debates
nurture
situation
determinsim
reductionism
psych as a science- control, standardised, quantitative
ethics- consent, not informed, debrief, confidentiality
but was deception and no protection from harm
usefulness-use legitimate authority to cause people to obey
Bocchiaro background, aim, sample and sampling method
background- Milgram only investigated obedience, wanted to delve further into disobedience and whistleblowing, and what made them do this.
aim-investigate rates of obedience, disobedience and whistleblowing in situation where there is no physical violence but is morally wrong.
sample- 149 undergrad, 96 women and 53 men from Amsterdam VU
sampling method- volunterr got either course credit or 7 euro.
Bochiaro experiment method and proc and comparison group
lab study- 8 pilot tests conducted before hand
stern dutch man told them to write letters to people encouraging them to take part in snesory deprivation study that previously occurred in Rome and had disastorous effects,
experimenter left room for 3 mins
moved to second room where there was a computer, mailbox and research committee forms
told to use verbs like “incredible”, “great”, “superb” but no negative
experimenter left room for 7 mins
could report it anonymously
pps also had to take hexaco and svo tests
comparison group- before study, asked a comparison group what they would do- only 3.6% said they would obey
Bocchiaro results and conclusions
76.5% obeyed, 14.1% disobeyed, 9.45 blew whistle
no significant differences in religion, gender however those who had higher faith were more likely to whisteblow
conclusions- ppl obey even when authority is unjust
people think they will act different in a situation compared to what they actually do
behaving morally can be more difficult in a different situation
Bocchiaro issues and debates
nature and nurture- situation+personality test
indiv and situation
holism
determinism
ethics- confidentiality, r2w, consent
but no protection- stressful situation
usefulness- educate on encouraging ppl to whisteblow, for example in workplaces
science- standardised, pilot tests, quantatitve, controlled
Levine background,, aim , sample, sampling method
most sudies investigsting helping behavour simply focus on population size- as population increases, people help less. Levine wanted to expand upon this.
aim- investigate cross cultural differences in helping behaviours and determine where a citys tendency to help is consiststent. Investigate the correlations between community variables, pop size, ppp, individualistic or collectivist, pace of life
pps in the 23 large cities, all adults. Children, disabled, old, and those not capable to help excluded. e.g Rio De Janeiro and Kuala Lampur
opportunity sampling- used those around
Levines research method, research design, IV and DV
quasi/field experiment, independent measures design,
IV- victim dropping pen
-victim had hurt/injured leg
-blind and trying to cross street
DV- helping rate of the cities, calculated to give Overall Helping Index.
Levines procedure
all collected by students, either Levine’s students or other students, all men, college age, dressed neat and casual. All students travelling to foreign countries or returning home for summer
to ensure standardisation- experimenters had detailed instruction sheet, onsite field training for roles. experimenters practiced together,
dropped pen condition- walking at moderate pace, pps walked towards solitary pedestrian in opposite direction. When 10 to 15 feet away, reached into pocket and dropped pen, in full view of participant. PPs scored as having helped if they told him he dropped it or gave it to him.
hurt leg- heavy limp and large, clear visible leg brace, experimenter dropped and unsuccessfully treid to pick up pile of magazines when they came within 20 feet of pedestrian. Help was offering help, or simly beginning to help.
Helping a blind person cross the street- experimenter in dark glasses, carrying white cane, stepped up to corner before light turned green, held out their cane, waited till hrlp was offered. If no help offered within 60 secs or when light went red it was terminated, Helping behaviour defined as pps informing experimenter light was green.
Levine results and conclusions
Rio De Janeiro- Brazil scored best, 100% on drop pen and blind person, 80% on hurt leg.
Kuala Lampur- Malaysia, scored worst, blind person helped 54% of time,drop pen 26% of time, hurt leg 41%.
culture results- those who were simpatia was most helpful, prioritise being helpful (Brazil have simpatia.)
countries with higher ppp helped less.
conclusions- large cross cultural variations in helping behaviours
countries with simpatia tend to be more helpful than those who dont
Levine issues and debates
ethical- had confidentiality, no r2w, informed consent, debrief, protection form harm etc.
science- field so not scientific, but had standardisation, quantifiable measures,
