PSY 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Psychological Science
Social psychologists
• John Darley
• Bibb Latane
• Bystander apathy effect
o Rope Pulling Study
▪ As the group got larger, each person gave less effort
▪ 1: 100% effort
▪ 3: 85% effort
▪ 7: 50% effort
o The Seizure Experiment
▪ Pre-recorded message of a guy having a seizure
▪ Listener doesn't know it's prerecorded
▪ Number of people in group v. % of people reporting seizure
• Alone: >80%
• Three People: 55%
• Six People: 30%
o The Ladder Experiment
▪ Lady pulled a bookshelf down on top of herself to see who in the room would help her
▪ Same results as Seizure Experiment
o People at Restaurants
▪ Tips get lower as party got larger
Diffusion of Responsibility
• People in larger groups feel less responsible for its overall success or failure
• A person is less likely to take responsibility for action or inaction when others are present
o Individual assumes that others either are responsible for taking action or have already done
so
Psychological Science
• Is it all just common sense?
o Yes and no…and that's okay!
• Even "common sense ideas" need to be verified for scientific use
• Sometimes common sense is wrong
• Interviewers switched to a different person mid-conversation
o Those they were talking to didn't even notice
Conformity and Obedience
• The power of social influence
o People "go along with the group"
• Line Experiment
o If everyone says line 2 is the correct one, the test subject is more likely to go along with line
2
o If even one person says another line, the test subject is more likely to differentiate to the
other line
• Conformity can create unbelievable behavior
o Nazi soldiers slaughtered >6 million people in the Holocaust
o Thousands of individuals committed atrocities
▪ 1 in every 1000 people are sociopaths, so how could this happen?
Document Summary
Listener doesn"t know it"s prerecorded: alone: >80, three people: 55% Lady pulled a bookshelf down on top of herself to see who in the room would help her. Same results as seizure experiment: people at restaurants, tips get lower as party got larger. Diffusion of responsibility: people in larger groups feel less responsible for its overall success or failure, a person is less likely to take responsibility for action or inaction when others are present. Individual assumes that others either are responsible for taking action or have already done so. Is it all just common sense: yes and no and that"s okay, even "common sense ideas" need to be verified for scientific use. Interviewers switched to a different person mid-conversation: those they were talking to didn"t even notice. Conformity and obedience: the power of social influence, people "go along with the group"
