Pilivain et al. (1969)- Bystander Behaviour

Description

ALEVEL PSYCHOLOGY Flashcards on Pilivain et al. (1969)- Bystander Behaviour, created by Dhara Bechra on 09/04/2017.
Dhara Bechra
Flashcards by Dhara Bechra, updated more than 1 year ago
Dhara Bechra
Created by Dhara Bechra about 7 years ago
14
2

Resource summary

Question Answer
Piliavin et al. (1969) - Bystander Behaviour 1964- Kitty Genovese fatally stabbed in NY.Police suggested 38 possible witnesses, but done nothing to help. Lack of help due to 'Diffusion of responsibility'.
Aim & Research Questions To find out whether diffusion of responsibility does apply in all situations, and what other factors might influence helping behaviour. To study the factors affecting whether people would help a collapsed man on NY underground.
Research Method Field experiment Independent measures design IV's: Victim's responsibility (carrying cane or smell of alcohol) Victim's race: black or white Presence of model: whether male confed. close or distant, helped 70-150 secs. Number of bystanders.
Research Method (2) DV: Time taken for first passenger to help. Total number of passengers who helped.
Sample Opportunity sample: 4500 passengers in NY subway. Average 43 per carriage. 45% black, 55% white 4 Experimenter: 2 (f)- observers, 1(m)-confederate (role model), 1(m)- victim.
Procedure Each trial- 7.5 minutes 2 conditions: drunk condition- victim smelled of alcohol and carried bottle wrapped in brown paper bag. cane condition- victim limping and carried a cane.
Procedure (2) 4 men aged 24-29 dressed identically - role models of helping behaviour. Applied to both conditions. 70 secs after trained pulled out, victim staggered in, if not helped, model would step in after 70 or 150 secs.
Procedure (3) 2 female observers recorded time it took for passengers to help as well as race, gender, and location of passengers in carriage. Also recorded comments made in each condition.
Results Cane victim received 95% help (62/65 trials) Drunk victim received 50% help (19/38 trials) Cane victim helped on average within secs. Drunk victim helped on average within 109 secs.
Results (2) Only 24% of drunk victims helped before role model stepped in. 91% of cane victims helped before role model stepped in. Black victims helped less quickly - especially in drunk condition.
Results (3) Neither race helped more. Slight 'same race' effect - whites more likely to help white victims and blacks more likely to help black victims. 80% first helpers were male. More passengers near victim, more likely help was given.
Conclusion Two-factor Model: 1) emergency situation creates sense of empathy in bystander. Empathy increased if person feels sense of identity with victim, or physically close to victim. Arousal reduced by helping directly or indirectly.
Conclusion (2) 2) Helping behaviour is determined by cost-reward calculation. If possible costs are greater than possible rewards, help is less likely to be given.
Evaluation Field experiment- high ecological validity due to real life setting - difficult to control extraneous variables. Collected both quantitative and qualitative data.
Evaluation (2) Ethical issues: Harm and distress- people observing may feel anxious or guilty. Consent- passengers didn't give consent to taking part in experiment. Deception- deceived by collapsed actor, not informed later that actor was ok.
Evaluation (3) Withdrawal- passengers not able to ask to have data removed as they didn't know about the experiment. Debriefing- passengers were not debriefed. Internal reliability poor as in natural setting.
Evaluation (4) Also passengers may have taken part more than once if they travel same route regularly. Opportunity sampling- unlikely to be representative.
Show full summary Hide full summary

Similar

History of Psychology
mia.rigby
Biological Psychology - Stress
Gurdev Manchanda
Psychology A1
Ellie Hughes
Bowlby's Theory of Attachment
Jessica Phillips
Psychology subject map
Jake Pickup
Memory Key words
Sammy :P
Psychology | Unit 4 | Addiction - Explanations
showmestarlight
The Biological Approach to Psychology
Gabby Wood
Chapter 5: Short-term and Working Memory
krupa8711
Cognitive Psychology - Capacity and encoding
T W
Psychology and the MCAT
Sarah Egan