Piliavin’s Subway Study Flashcards

1️⃣ Familiarise yourself with the flashcards:

Look through all the flashcards to see what's on both sides.
Make sure you understand the information on each card. If something's unclear, click the link to the revision notes at the bottom of the page for more details.

2️⃣ Test yourself:

Look at the question or prompt on each card and try to remember the answer before flipping it over.
Check the answer and make a note of any cards you find challenging and need to go over more.

3️⃣ Consistently Review and Practice:

Use spaced repetition: spend more time on the cards you struggle with and go over them more often.
Regularly review all the flashcards to help you better understand and retain the information over time.

Note: We may include questions that have multiple correct answers. It's useful to remember specific examples to understand these concepts better.

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What was the aim of Piliavin's Subway Study?

To find out how victim type, race, and crowd size affect bystander help.

A field experiment on a New York subway train.

A male actor collapsed after about a minute. He looked ill with a cane or drunk. Observers recorded who helped and how fast.

An ill victim with a cane and a drunk victim who appeared to have been drinking.

The victim’s race, the presence and timing of a model helper, and the number of bystanders.

How quickly help was given and how many people helped.

The cane victim was helped much more often and more quickly than the drunk victim.

It was not found; bigger groups helped more and faster.

Men were much more likely to help than women.

Little race effect for the cane victim; a small same‑race bias for the drunk victim.

People weigh costs and rewards. They help more when help seems safe and the need is clear.

Passengers were deceived and did not give consent, which could cause distress.