Piliavin et al 1969

• What were the four independent variables of Piliavin's study?

  Whether the victim was ill/drunk (victim type), or black/white (race), and whether the role model provided assistance, and how long they took to do so.
• What was the size of the sample in Piliavin's study? Where?

  4500 men and women travelling on a New York subway
• What time were the participants traveling on the New York Subway during Piliavin's study?

  From 11 am to 3 pm.
• What were the two levels of the dependent variable in Piliavin's study?

  The speed that people would help and the frequency in which people helped.
• What conclusion did Piliavin et al draw regarding helping behavior? Why?

  People are more likely to help someone they perceive as ill. Because in 62/65 trials did people help the ‘ill’ victim compared to only 19/38 where someone helped the ‘drunk’ person before the role model did.
• What were to 2 role model time conditions?

  • Early- 70 seconds after the collapse
  • Late- 150 seconds after
• Why are people more likely to help an ill person than a drunk person?

  The cost of helping is perceived a less.
• What other conclusion did Piliavin et al conclude? Why?

  Men are more likely to help in an emergency situation than women. Because 90% of the first helpers were male.
• Why are males perhaps more inclined to help than women?

  The cost of a male not helping is higher, because they feel responsible to act in emergency situitions.
• What type of study was conducted in the subway experiment?

  Field experiment
• Why is the subway study considered to have high ecological validity?


  Because it was conducted in a naturalistic environment, reflecting real-life behavior
• How does the lack of awareness among passengers contribute to the validity of the study?

  It reduces the likelihood of demand characteristics, leading to more natural behavior
• What is one weakness of the subway study regarding informed consent?


  Passengers did not give informed consent to participate and may have suffered psychological distress due to the situation.
• Why does the study lack temporal validity?


  Because it was conducted in 1969, and bystander behavior may have changed since then
• What is a weakness of the study’s sample?

  It may not be applicable to other populations outside of NYC, and so is low in population validity and can’t be generalised.
• What are the weaknesses of the subway study?

  • Lack of informed consent from participants
  • Conducted in 1969, which may affect its temporal validity
  • Low population validity as it was only conducted in NYC