LEVINE Flashcards
What was the aim of Levines study?
To see if the tendency of people within a city to offer non emergency help to strangers was stable across different situations in which people needed help.
What happened in the Dropped pen procedure in Levine ?
Walking at a carefully practiced , moderate pace, experimenters walked toward a pedestrian walking in the opposite direction. When around 10-15 feet from the subject, the experimenter will drop their pen and continue walking. Participants were scored as having helped if they told experimenter about pen or brought it to them.
What happened in the hurt leg procedure ?
Walking with a heavy limp & wearing a large leg brace, experimenters accidentally dropped magazines. Participants were scored as having helped if they told experimenter about magazine or gave it to them.
What happened in the helping a blind person procedure?
In Levine ?
Experimenters wearing dark glasses & carrying white canes. Walking towards corner of road and waiting for help.
What were the results of Levines study for USA?
United States : overall helping - 44.67%
Dropped pen: 31%
Hurt Leg: 28%
Blind : 75%
What were the results for Levines study in Brazil?
Overall helping : 93.33%
Dropped pen: 100%
Hurt leg: 80%
Blind: 100%
What were the conclusions from Levines study ?
Levine et al conclude that overall levels of helping across cultures are inversely related to a country’s economic production. Also that countries with tradition of sympatia are more helpful than countries with no such tradition.
What was the research method for Levine ?
A correlational study
Quasi experiment - IV of country, DV of helping behaviours.
Which ethical guidelines did Levine break?
Consent
Deceived to the genuineness of people’s needs
No mention of debrief
What ethical guidelines did Levine uphold ?
Respected confidentiality
No harm to participants
What is the validity in Levines study ?
High ecological validity - data collected in a field rather than lab setting
Members of public could possibly see what experimenters are doing before which could change behaviour
What is the reliability of Levine ?
Procedure is highly standardised as all experimenters received both a detailed instruction sheet&training for their roles. This was to ensure that they are all measuring in a consistent manner.
Levine measure in 3 different ways
Ethnocentrism of Levine ?
Highly cross cultural as research took place in 23 countries with a wide range of different cultural backgrounds. However it remains centred on the Americans, Asians and Europe.
How does Levine link to Psychology as a science debate ?
Levine is a replicable, objective and falsifiable study.
Possible to prove wrong, replicable as done in so many countries, and trained data collectors to follow clear guidance about what counted and didn’t count as helping behaviour.
How does Levine link to individual/situational debate?
Suggests that culture is one aspect of the situation that can influence the chances of people engaging in helping behaviour.
However, as levels of helping behaviour were generally higher in the blind person scenario, there is something about this particular situation that makes people more likely to help.
