Latane and Darley

• Latane and Darley performed several experiments to test group inhibition in various circumstances.

  Their aim was to determine if the presence of others, especially others who were not reacting to the situation, altered a person’s response to that situation.
• The first part of the experiment involved the participant completing a survey in a room alone.

  The room then began to fill with smoke and the participants were timed to see how long they took to respond
• The second part involved the participants being in a room with other actors who ignored the smoke.

  Again, smoke filled, the participants were timed until they responded
• The third part involved all three people being participants and no actors.

  As before, they were timed to see how long until they responded to the smoke coming into the room.
• The results were that in the first part 75% of participants responded to the smoke within 5 min.
• For the second test, only 10% reported the smoke after the actors ignored it.
• In the third test, 38% reported the smoke, even when it was filling the room and choking them.
• These results showed that people’s inaction towards circumstances that require action when in a group is not necessarily because of callousness on their part.
• In a group, people rely on cues from others, so if no-one does anything, others also do nothing.
• The experimenters accounted for personality through a checklist and results for males and females were very similar, indicating that these were not primary reasons for inaction.

  This is known as the diffusion of responsibility.
• ‘Laboratory setting’ so not a perfect representation of actions people take in the real world.

  Participants may have been aware they were being watched