Core Studies - Piliavin (Subway Samarinatism)

Question 1

What is the key theme of the study

Answer 1

Responses to people in need

Question 2

What is the aim of the study

Answer 2

To investigate factors affecting helping bystander behaviour

Question 3

What is the background of this study (3)

Answer 3

Kitty Genivede murdered and was attacked for 30 minutes 38 of her neighbours woke up and no one intervention for 20 minutes

Latane and Darley study showed that when people were in groups they were less likely to take action despite smoke filling the room

Diffusion of responsibility

Question 4

What is the method and design of the study

Answer 4

Field experiment

Independent measures design

Question 5

Where did the study take place and how long did journey’s last on average

What type of study was it

Answer 5

Trains on the 8th avenue New York Subway between 59th and 125th Street

7.5 minutes

Snapshot design

Question 6

What were 4 independent variables

Answer 6

Type of victim
Race of victim
Presence of model
Size of the witnessing group (natural IV)

Question 7

What were 5 dependent variables

Answer 7

Speed of help
Race of helper
Sex of helper
Movement out of critical area
Verbal comments made by bystanders

Question 8

How many people were in the sample

What percentage was black and white

Answer 8

4450 passengers

45% black and 55% white

Question 9

Between what times did the study take place

Answer 9

11am to 3pm

Question 10

Between what days did the study take place

Answer 10

April 15 to June 28
1968

Question 11

What gender were the victims and observes

Answer 11

2 female observers
2 male victims

Question 12

What are 4 features of the victims

Answer 12

All male
General studies students
Aged 25 to 36
All dressed alike - jeans and jacket

Question 13

What differed the 2 victims

Answer 13

One smelled of liquor and held a brown paper bag with alcohol

One appeared sober and carried a black cane

Question 14

Outline the procedure of the study

Answer 14

All victims entered through different doors

Victim stood next a pole in the centre of the critical area and after 70 seconds they collapsed and stayed on the floor until they received help (either after 70 secs by ,odle or 150 secs)

The model stood in either the critical or adjacent area

The observes sat outside the critical area and wrote the results

Question 15

What did observer 1 record (2)

Answer 15

The ethnicity gender and location of people in the critical area and the egl of those who helped as well as number f people who helped

Comments made by passengers

Question 16

What did observer 2 record

Answer 16

The ethnicity (race) location and gender of people in the adjacent area and how long it took first person to help after victim collapsed / after modle appeared

Comments made by passengers

Question 17

What were 4 results from the study

Answer 17

Cane victim received spontaneous help straight away 95%of the time but for drunk victim it was 50%a other time

Overall 100% help for cane victim and 81%for drunk victim

Help offered more quickly to cane victim (median 5 seconds) drunk victim was 109 seconds

Slight tendency for same race helping especially in drunk condition

Question 18

Was there any overall diffusion of responsibility

Answer 18

No
There was actually father response with larger groups of people

Question 19

What were 2 comments made by passengers

Answer 19

It’s for men to help

I wish I could help him but I’m bit strong enough

Question 20

What are 3 conclusions

Answer 20

People perform a cost reward analysis before helping others as situations can cause heightened negative arousal so people are motivated by their own selfish desires to help or not

Individual who appears ill is more likely to receive help that and individual who appears drunk

Action depends on whether the rewards of helping are greater than the costs of not helping

Question 21

Evaluate the research methods

Answer 21

It was a field experiment so people are unaware that they are being studied and it took place in a natural environment so reduces demand characteristics and also means that increases high ecological validity

Extraneous variables are very gard to control in field experiments so it is hard to establish cause and effect and therefore reduces internal validity eg people, as be busy with own things and not notice especially in urban places

Question 22

Evaluate reliability

Answer 22

They used standardised procedures for example the victims wore the same clothes so can be replicated easily and all done between same times

Each person did different observations so noisier rater reliability

Question 23

Evaluate any sampling bias

Answer 23

Opportunity sample but was very large so had large groups of people so targets a lot of different people therefore can be representative

All participants from the city and all from 11am to 3pm which excludes large groups of people

Question 24

Evaluate the types of data collected

Answer 24

Quantitative data useful and easy to compare and makes it very easy to see the difference in the help received by drunk and ill victim

Qualitative data provided an explanation for why some people didn’t help ie women as it as a man’s job

Question 25

Evaluate any ethical considerations

Answer 25

No informed consent received as it was a field experiment so none of the participants even knew that they were part of the study

No protection from harm as participants could have been upset by seeing someone collapse as well as feeling guilty afterwards if they didn’t help

No debriefing so some participants may be left wondering if the victim was okay

Question 26

Evaluate ethnocentrism

Answer 26

It tool place in America which has an individualist culture so therefore people may have been less likely to help than in other cultures like collectivist ones which value community

Also it took place in a city/ urban place where people are probably more used to seeing things like that happen so may be more desensitised to it than someone who lives in a rural area

Overall very ethnocentric and can’t be generalised to other cultures