Lesson Title: Bystander Intervention: Explaining Behavior in Terms of Multiple Variables

Authors: Bill Cerbin, Melanie Cary, Rob Dixon, Carmen Wilson, University of Wisconsin-La
Crosse
Contact: Bill Cerbin, cerbin.will@uwlax.edu
How to Teach the Bystander Intervention Lesson
Pre-Lesson
STEP ONE
Prepare for the lesson.
Materials needed. Make copies of student handouts for the lesson: Bystander PreTest, Group Exercise 1, Group Exercise 2, Model of Bystander Intervention, Individual
Analysis, and Bystander Post-Test. See links to handouts.
Pre-Test. Give the Bystander Pre-Test to students as a homework assignment one
week before the lesson. Give half the students Form A and half Form B. Students
analyze four bystander scenarios. For each they predict how the bystander is likely to
act and identify factors that influence bystanders actions.
Students email their Pre-Test responses to the instructor several days before the
research lesson and bring hard copy of their pre-test responses to the lesson.
Analyze Pre-Test responses. Look for patterns and tendencies in how students predict
and explain bystander behavior. Use these to anticipate how students will respond to
the group exercises.
Student reading. The bystander lesson is the first lesson on the topic of social
psychology. There are no assigned readings.
Research Lesson Directions to Students. Read over the directions to students. Make
any changes in the directions before the lesson. Link: Research Lesson Directions to
Students.
The Lesson
STEP TWO (10 minutes)
Introduce the topic and goals of the lesson.
Describe and explain the concept of bystander intervention. We used the Kitty
Genovese incident to pose the question of why bystanders help or do not help
strangers. See Myers, D, (2005). Psychology (7th ed.), pp. 734-737.
Describe the goals of the lessonto develop an understanding of bystander
intervention and the ability to analyze and explain behavior in terms of multiple
factors.
STEP THREE (30 minutes)
Group Exercise 1: Small groups analyze factors that influence bystander behavior.
Assign students to small groups (4-6). Put roughly equal numbers of students with
Form A and Form B in each group.
Distribute Group Exercise 1 Handout.
Read and explain directions for Group Exercise 1 to the class. Link: Research Lesson
Directions to Students.

Students compare the scenarios from Pre-Test Forms A and B. For each pair of
scenarios they discuss the factors that influence bystander behavior and predict
whether bystanders are likely to help or not help the person in need. They work

through each pair of scenarios and compile a list of categories for all the variables
they discuss. Each group writes its categories on an overhead transparency.

Circulate among the groups. Clarify the task and answer questions. After students
work on the exercise for 15 minutes, check with each group to see what kinds of
categories they have produced. If necessary, suggest ways to combine individual
examples into categories (e.g., whether the onlooker is male, whether the onlooker is
female combine into gender of onlooker).

STEP FOUR (15 minutes)

Whole Class discussion. (15 minutes)
Collect the overhead transparencies from each group.
Compare groups categories and predictions. On the overhead projector show a
transparency from one of the groups and ask the team members to explain their
categories and predictions. After discussion of 2-3 transparencies the ideas may
become redundant. At that point ask subsequent groups to point out any unique
categories or factors that have not been identified.
STEP FIVE (10 minutes)
Instructor presentation of research model to the class.
Distribute the Model of Bystander Intervention Handout.
Introduce the model and highlight the major variables in the model. Point out
similarities and differences between the research model and students categories.
STEP SIX (10 minutes)
Group Exercise 2. Students work in small groups
Distribute Group Exercise 2 Handout to groups.
Go over instructions with students. Each group compares its factors to the research
model and hands in one group summary at the end of class.
STEP SEVEN (10 minutes)
Individual analysis.
Distribute Individual Analysis handout to students.
Go over instructions. Students write an individual analysis of how their group's factors
fit the bystander model. Link: Individual Analysis.
We used the individual analysis to help students consolidate their thinking about the
bystander model and to get data from each student. We wanted a record of individual
thinking separate from the group summaries.
Post-Lesson
STEP EIGHT
Give students the Bystander Post-test as a take home assignment.
At the next class period discuss students answers and compare these to actual
research results. Links: Bystander Post-test and Bystander Studies Handout.
We used the Post-test to determine whether students' predictions and explanations were
different from their pre-lesson responses. The Post-test scenarios were based on those
used in research studies of bystander intervention.

Student Learning Goals

As a result of the lesson students should be
1. better able to analyze and explain the psychology of bystander intervention.
2. better able and more inclined to analyze and explain human behavior in terms
multiple factors (or variables).
The immediate academic goal of the lesson is to develop students understanding of
bystander intervention as a social psychological phenomenon. Because this is the first
lesson in the social psychology unit, the goal is also to use bystander intervention to
illustrate how the presence of others affects how individuals act, think and feel. Subsequent
lessons on the topics of conformity, obedience, and social influence further elaborate on this
idea.
The broad goal of the lesson is to develop students' ability (and inclination) to think in
terms of multiple variables, a basic feature of psychological reasoning. To explain any form
of behavior one needs to determine the factors, conditions, variables, and antecedents that
influence the actions in question. We see a tendency for students to oversimplify human
actions, and to explain behavior in terms of a single factor or variablea tendency we call
"The One Factor Theory." For example, students often explain children's behavior problems
in terms of "low self esteem." We think it is important to provide experiences that develop
students' capacity to think in more complex ways about the nature of human behavior.
The lesson topic, "the psychology of bystander intervention," focuses on why bystanders
help or do not help (intervene) in situations where a stranger needs assistance. We
selected the topic because the phenomenon involves everyday situations that are familiar
to students. They can easily imagine these types of situations and may have experienced
them both as a bystander and as a person in need of help. In addition, the research
findings are incongruent with everyday beliefs. For example, research demonstrates the
importance of situational variables such as how the number of people present in the
situation affects bystander intervention (i.e., more people present, the less likely it is that
someone will help). In contrast, students emphasize the importance of the bystander's
personality and character as determinants of behavior.
How the Lesson Works
To promote thinking in terms of multiple variables the lesson engages students in analyzing
and explaining bystander scenarios depicting people in need of help. The lesson involves
analytical activities in which students:
1. predict how bystanders are likely to act in a variety of situations (Pre-Test, Group
Exercise 1, Post-Test).
2. explain the reasons why a bystander would or would not help in various situations
(Pre-Test, Group Exercise 1, Post-Test)
3. compare their explanations of bystander intervention to a research-based model of
bystander intervention (Group Exercise 2 and Individual Analysis).
In general, research indicates that "explaining" and "predicting" are sense-making activities
that help students articulate, examine and revise their understanding of concepts
(Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 1999; Schwartz and Bransford, 1998). Moreover these
activities make student thinking visible throughout the class period so that we can observe
how they construe the scenarios and explain bystander behavior.

Instructional materials. The Bystander Scenarios are key to the lesson. They depict
concrete examples of real situations in which a person needs help. For each scenario
students predict what onlookers will do (i.e., help or not help) and then explain the factors
that influence onlookers behavior in the situation.
We created four (4) pairs of scenarios, manipulating such factors as number of bystanders
present, the age or gender of the person in need of help, the severity of the situation,
and the potential threat to the bystander. Link: Bystander Scenarios.
Each pair of scenarios differed with respect to one important variable. For example, the pair
below depicts a snowbound motorist. In one scenario the motorist is an older woman and in
the other a young woman.
A. On a bitterly cold day, an older woman struggles to shovel her car out of its parking spot
on a busy street. There are a number of pedestrians on the sidewalk and cars passing by who
notice her.
B. On a bitterly cold day, a young woman struggles to shovel her car out of its parking spot
on a busy street. There are a number of pedestrians on the sidewalk and cars passing by who
notice her.

The reason for creating alternate forms of the scenarios is to focus student attention on
specific factors such as the number of bystanders present or the potential cost to the
bystander for offering assistance.
The scenarios are used for the Pre-Test and Group Exercise 1. On the Pre-Test each student
receives 4 scenarios, one scenario from each pair. In class we assign students to groups so
that about half the students in each group have Form A and half have Form B. Link:
Bystander Pre-Test.
Instructional and learning activities. The learning activities consisted of: 1) Group
Exercise 1, 2) the instructors explanation of the Bystander Intervention Research Model, 3)
Group Exercise 2, 4) Individual Analysis, and 5) Post-Test and class discussion.
Group Exercise 1: In Group Exercise 1 students generate and discuss a wide variety of
variables based on the concrete, familiar situations depicted in the scenarios. They predict
how bystanders will act and then explain the factors likely to influence bystander behavior.
The exercise is an opportunity to think about the multiple variables that affect bystander
behavior. Because the scenarios highlight situational factors, students are faced with many
potential reasons why bystanders may or may not help a stranger.
Explanation of the Bystander Intervention Research Model. Rather than present the
research model as the beginning of the lesson, we introduce it after students produce their
own ideas about what accounts for bystander intervention. We believe that the model
makes more sense after students have analyzed bystander intervention situations as it
offers a framework for organizing the facts and observations they have generated. Link:
Bystander Intervention Model.
Group Exercise 2 involves students in comparing their groups ideas about bystander
intervention with the research-based model. The model introduces a more coherent way to
think about bystander behavior and is based on actual research evidence. Although the

model is not complex, we think students will be more inclined to try to understand the
model after they produce their own predictions and explanations of bystander intervention.
The Individual Analysis follows the Group Exercise 2. Each student writes his/her own
summary, comparing the research model to the groups ideas about bystander intervention.
This is also a way to monitor each students understanding of the concepts.
Students do a Post-Test as a homework assignment that includes scenarios from well know
research studies on bystander intervention. Students predict and explain how research
subjects are likely to act in each situation. See the sample item below. Link: Bystander
Post-Test.
Subjects in a testing room heard a female experimenter (who was behind a curtain) climb on
a chair to retrieve a book from a shelf. They then heard the experimenter fall to the floor and
groan: Oh, my Godmy foot . . . I . . . cant move it. Oh . . . my ankle . . . I cant get this
thing off me. Her groans lasted for another minute and the entire episode lasted about two
minutes. The research subjects were either alone in the room when they heard the accident
or in the room with two other subjects. Predict how the subjects responded. In which of the
conditions (alone or with others) were the research subjects more likely to help the woman?
Explain the reasons for your prediction.

The Post-Test is a final opportunity to examine the major concepts related to bystander
intervention. Moreover, the Post-Test items have actual answers so students can compare
their predictions to what subjects did in the research studies. At the next class meeting the
instructor examines the Post-Test responses. Link: Bystander Studies Handout.

Research Lesson Directions to Students

Why Do Bystanders Help or Not Help Strangers in Need?

Psy 100 Class Activity 11-11-03
Social Psychologists are interested in understanding a specific type of social behavior called bystander
intervention. Bystander intervention refers to how people respond to situations in which a stranger may
need help. Will people help or wont they? What are the factors that make it more or less likely that a
person will help a stranger? These are the types of questions social psychologist want to answer.
Todayyou become social psychologists. All of the scenarios you read involve a stranger in need of help.
You made a list of factors you think may influence a bystander to help or not help in each scenario. Now
it is time to work with your group to develop a more systematic and comprehensive explanation for
bystander intervention.
The purposes of this activity are to develop your understanding of this type of social behavior and to
engage you in a type of psychological thinking in which you try to figure out what causes people to help
or not help strangers.
By the end of class today, your group will develop a set of factors that you think influence bystander
intervention.
Directions
Your goal is to identify a set of factors that may influence bystander intervention. Last week you thought
of specific reasons why a person might help or not help in a specific situation. Now, you will examine
these reasonslooking for similarities among themin order to produce more general factors or
categories.
For example, below are several specific reasons students gave for why a person would help or not help a
person in need

will help if the woman is attractive

will help if the man looks friendly

wont help if the man looks mean

wont help if the woman looks unattractive

Physical appearance is the characteristic common to all of these responses. So, physical appearance of
the person in need may be one factor that determines bystander intervention.
Your group should try to develop a set of factors that account for your responses to the seven scenarios. In
other words, when you are done you should be able to categorize all the responses to the scenarios (well
almost allsome might not fit anywhere).
Getting started
I. First take 5 minutes to discuss the handout, Bystander Intervention Scenarios. As you see, there are
two versions of each scenario (Form A and Form B). Compare the two versions of each scenario, and
identify the key difference between version A and B. The key characteristic may be a factor that
determines bystander intervention. This will help you get startedbut these are not the only factors.
II. Next, focus on scenario 1. Be sure to look at both versions of the scenarioA and B. Look at your
group members responses to the scenarios. Be sure you discuss the responses so that you are clear as to

what they mean. If you arent clear, the author should try to clarify the meaning of the response. Try to
create factors (i.e., categories) for all the responses to the first scenario. Againto identify a general
factor look for common characteristics among the individual responses.
When you complete your list of factors based on the first scenario call me over to your group so I can
check your progress and answer any questions.
Now that you have a few general factors to start with, you can move on to the other scenarios. Try to fit
the responses into your existing categories. Develop additional factors as needed until you have examined
as many responses as possible in the time allotted.
After about 30 minutes of working on the scenarios I will ask each group to make an overhead
transparency and a paper copy of your categories.
III. Use the format below to prepare an overhead transparency and a paper copy of your factors. Give a
clear descriptive name for each factor and then give at least three examples of responses that fit the
category. However, you may discover a category you want to include even though you cant think of
examplesit is okay to include these factors
Physical Appearance
Woman is attractive
Man is friendly looking
Man looks mean

Factor B
Eg.
Eg.
Eg.

Factor C
Eg.
Eg.
Eg.

Factor D
Eg.
Eg.
Eg.

Factor E
Eg.
Eg.
Eg.

Factor F
Eg.
Eg.
Eg.

Several examples of responses that do not fit your categories.

IV. Class Discussion of your categories. Each group will have an opportunity to present their set of factors
to the class. Be prepared to explain your factors.
V. Analysis of the Bystander Intervention Model. In your small group examine the handout, Bystander
Intervention Model. Follow the directions and write a group summary that explains how your factors fit
into the Bystander Intervention Model.
VI. Predicting bystander intervention.
At the end of class each group should hand in 1) your overhead transparency, 2) paper copy of the
factors you developed, and 3) your summary.

Bystander Pre-Test Form A

Students do the Pre-Test as a homework assignment several days prior to the Research Lesson

Name: ___________________________________________

Instructions: Read each of the following four (4) scenarios and try to imagine being present in each
situation. Answer the questions for each scenario.
1. On a snowy day, a car is traveling along a busy road. The driver weaves in and out of the passing lane and
accelerates quickly to pass other cars barely missing them. Suddenly the car hits a patch of ice and slides off
the road and onto the shoulder. Motorists who have been following the driver slow down as they approach
the car.
In your opinion what is the likelihood that an onlooker would help in this situation? Indicate your opinion by
putting an X on the scale.
1---------------- 2 ----------------- 3 ------------------- 4 ------------------- 5 ---------------- 6 ---------------- 7
Very likely
Very unlikely
to help
to help

What factors do you think would influence whether an onlooker would help or not help. List the factors in the
columns below.
Factors that would influence onlooker to help

Factors that would influence onlooker not to help

2. A teacher is walking across campus carrying a stack of papers between classes. Bending over to pick up
her pen she accidentally drops a large stack of papers she was carrying. At that moment a gust of wind blows
the papers all over the sidewalk. Students and passersby watch the papers flying around.
In your opinion what is the likelihood that an onlooker would help in this situation? Indicate your opinion by
putting an X on the scale.
1---------------- 2 ----------------- 3 ------------------- 4 ------------------- 5 ---------------- 6 ---------------- 7
Very likely
Very unlikely
to help
to help

What factors do you think would influence whether an onlooker would help or not help. List the factors in the
columns below.
Factors that would influence onlooker to help

Factors that would influence onlooker not to help

3. At 1:00 a.m. outside a tavern several men are arguing. Two of the men are shouting loudly at a third man
who appears to be backing away from them. The two men move toward the lone man and start waving their
arms as he backs up against a wall. A group of people exiting the tavern notice the situation.
In your opinion what is the likelihood that an onlooker would help in this situation? Indicate your opinion by
putting an X on the scale.
1---------------- 2 ----------------- 3 ------------------- 4 ------------------- 5 ---------------- 6 ---------------- 7
Very likely
Very unlikely
to help
to help

What factors do you think would influence whether an onlooker would help or not help. List the factors in the
columns below.
Factors that would influence onlooker to help

Factors that would influence onlooker not to help

4. In middle of the day a man climbs on the railing of a bridge high above a river. He sits on the railing
muttering things to himself. A crowd begins to gather number and motorists stop on the bridge to watch him.
In your opinion what is the likelihood that an onlooker would help in this situation? Indicate your opinion by
putting an X on the scale.
1---------------- 2 ----------------- 3 ------------------- 4 ------------------- 5 ---------------- 6 ---------------- 7
Very likely
Very unlikely
to help
to help

What factors do you think would influence whether an onlooker would help or not help. List the factors in the
columns below.
Factors that would influence onlooker to help

Factors that would influence onlooker not to help

Bystander Pre-Test Form B

Students do the Pre-Test as a homework assignment several days prior to the Research Lesson

Name:________________________________________________
Instructions: Read each of the following scenarios and try to imagine being present in each situation.
Answer the questions for each scenario.
1. On a snowy day, a car is traveling along a busy road. The car hits a patch of ice and slides onto the
shoulder of the road. Motorists who have been following the driver slow down as they approach the car.
In your opinion what is the likelihood that an onlooker would help in this situation? Indicate your opinion by
putting an X on the scale.
1---------------- 2 ----------------- 3 ------------------- 4 ------------------- 5 ---------------- 6 ---------------- 7
Very likely
Very unlikely
to help
to help

What factors do you think would influence whether an onlooker would help or not help. List the factors in the
columns below.
Factors that would influence onlooker to help

Factors that would influence onlooker not to help

2. A teacher is walking across campus carrying a stack of papers between classes. Bending over to pick up his
pen he accidentally drops a large stack of papers he was carrying. At that moment a gust of wind blows the
papers all over the sidewalk. Students and passersby watch the papers flying around.
In your opinion what is the likelihood that an onlooker would help in this situation? Indicate your opinion by
putting an X on the scale.
1---------------- 2 ----------------- 3 ------------------- 4 ------------------- 5 ---------------- 6 ---------------- 7
Very likely
Very unlikely
to help
to help

What factors do you think would influence whether an onlooker would help or not help. List the factors in the
columns below.
Factors that would influence onlooker to help

Factors that would influence onlooker not to help

3. At 1:00 a.m. outside a tavern several men are arguing. Two of the men are shouting loudly at a third man
who appears to be backing away from them. The two men move toward the lone man and start waving their
arms as he backs up against a wall. A lone pedestrian approaches from up the street and notices the
situation.
In your opinion what is the likelihood that an onlooker would help in this situation? Indicate your opinion by
putting an X on the scale.
1---------------- 2 ----------------- 3 ------------------- 4 ------------------- 5 ---------------- 6 ---------------- 7
Very likely
Very unlikely
to help
to help

What factors do you think would influence whether an onlooker would help or not help. List the factors in the
columns below.
Factors that would influence onlooker to help

Factors that would influence onlooker not to help

4. Late at night a man climbs on the railing of a bridge high above a river. He sits on the railing muttering
things to himself. A pedestrian walking on the bridge notices the man.
In your opinion what is the likelihood that an onlooker would help in this situation? Indicate your opinion by
putting an X on the scale.
1---------------- 2 ----------------- 3 ------------------- 4 ------------------- 5 ---------------- 6 ---------------- 7
Very likely
Very unlikely
to help
to help

What factors do you think would influence whether an onlooker would help or not help. List the factors in the
columns below.
Factors that would influence onlooker to help

Factors that would influence onlooker not to help

Group Exercise #1
Example of a Group Response during the Research Lesson

Group Exercise 2 Handout

Group Summary Analysis of Bystander Intervention

Names of group members:
Your group just produced a number of factors that may influence bystander intervention. Now lets see
how your ideas fit into the research that has been done on bystander intervention. Read the attached
handout that describes the Model of Bystander Intervention. This model is based on studies that
investigate how people actually respond in situations where a stranger may need help.
Compare your categories to those in the handout. In what ways are your factors similar to and different
from those reported in the handout. Your group might have come up with personality traits that you
attributed to people who help or who dont help (e.g., things like altruistic people, heartless people, etc)?
Note that bystander personality traits do not appear in the Research Model of Bystander Intervention. Any
ideas why this is so?
Hand in one group analysis at the end of class.

Model of Bystander Intervention Handout

A Model of Bystander Intervention

Notices
the incident

Interpret incident
as emergency

Assume

responsibility

Attempts to help

The Bystander Intervention Model predicts that people are more likely to help others under certain conditions. As
the diagram indicates, bystanders first must notice the incident taking place. Obviously, if they dont take note of
the situation there is no reason to help. Bystanders also need to evaluate the situation and determine whether it is an
emergencyor at least one in which someone needs assistance. Again, if people do not interpret a situation as one
in which someone needs assistance, then there is no need to provide help. Another decision bystanders make is
whether they should assume responsibility for giving help. One repeated finding in research studies on helping is
that a bystander is less likely to help if there are other bystanders present. When other bystanders are present
responsibility for helping is diffused. If a lone bystander is present he or she is more likely to assume
responsibility.
Factors that Influence Helping
Many factors influence people's willingness to help, including the ambiguity of the situation, perceived cost,
diffusion of responsibility, similarity, mood and gender, attributions of the causes of need, and social norms.
Situational ambiguity. In ambiguous situations, (i.e., it is unclear that there is an emergency) people are much less
likely to offer assistance than in situations involving a clear-cut emergency (Shotland & Heinold, 1985). They are
also less likely to help in unfamiliar environments than in familiar ones (e.g., when they are in strange cities rather
than in their hometowns).
Perceived cost. The likelihood of helping increases as the perceived cost to ourselves declines (Simmons, 1991).
We are more likely to lend our class notes to someone whom we believe will return them than to a person who
doesn't appear trustworthy.
Diffusion of responsibility. The presence of others may diffuse the sense of individual responsibility. It follows that
if you suddenly felt faint and were about to pass out on the street, you would be more likely to receive help if there
are only a few passers-by present than if the street is crowded with pedestrians. With fewer people present, it
becomes more difficult to point to the "other guy" as the one responsible for taking action. If everyone believes the
other guy will act, then no one acts.
Similarity. People are more willing to help others whom they perceive to be similar to themselvespeople who
share a common background and beliefs. They are even more likely to help others who dress like they do than those
in different attire (Cialdini & Trost, 1998). People also tend to be more willing to help their kin than to help non
kin (Gaulin & McBurney, 2001).
Mood. People are generally more willing to help others when they are in a good mood (Berkowitz, 1987).
Gender. Despite changes in traditional gender roles, women in need are more likely than men in need to receive
assistance from strangers (Benson, Karabenick, & Lerner, 1976).
Attributions of the cause of need. People are much more likely to help others they judge to be innocent victims than
those they believe have brought their problems on themselves (Batson, 1998). Thus, they may fail to lend assistance
to homeless people and drug addicts whom they feel "deserve what they get."
Social norms. Social norms prescribe behaviors that are expected of people in social situations (Batson, 1998). The
social norm of "doing your part" in helping a worthy cause places a demand on people to help, especially in
situations where their behavior is observed by others (Gaulin & McBurney, 2001). For example, people are more
likely to make a charitable donation when they are asked to do so by a co-worker in full view of others than when
they receive an appeal in the mail in the privacy of their own home .

Bystander Post-test
Take home assignment given to students at the end of the Research Lesson and due the following
class period. Used to assess changes in students' predictions and explanations of bystander
intervention

Predicting Bystander Intervention

Due via email by 7:45 a.m. Thursday, November 13 Bring hardcopy to class
Each of the following describes a research study in which research subjects are led to believe there is a person in
need of help. Read each situation and answer the questions.
Study 1: Research subjects are asked to fill out a questionnaire in a waiting room. Before long, smoke started to
come into the room through a small wall vent. The researchers were interested in determining whether subjects
would investigate the situation to see if it was an emergency and how long it would take before doing so. The
researchers varied the number of subjects in the waiting roomsometimes there was just one subject in the room
alone, sometimes three subjects were in the room, and sometimes there was one subject and two other people (who
were confederates[1] of the experimenter and who ignored the smoke and continued working on the questionnaire).
Predict how the subjects responded. In which situation were the research subjects most likely to check out whether
the smoke posed a threat (alone, with 2 other subjects, with 2 confederates who ignored the smoke)? In which
situation were they least likely to check out whether the smoke posed a threat? Explain the reasons for your
predictions.
Study 2: Subjects in a testing room heard a female experimenter (who was behind a curtain) climb on a chair to
retrieve a book from a shelf. They then heard the experimenter fall to the floor and groan: Oh, my Godmy
foot . . . I . . . cant move it. Oh . . . my ankle . . . I cant get this thing off me. Her groans lasted for another minute
and the entire episode lasted about two minutes. The research subjects were either alone in the room when they
heard the accident or in the room with two other subjects. Predict how the subjects responded. In which of the
conditions (alone or with others) were the research subjects more likely to help the woman? Explain the reasons for
your prediction.
Study 3: Two male and two female experimenters boarded a subway train separately. The two females took notes
and recorded results. The two men remained standing. As the train began to move one of the men lurched forward
and collapsed. He lay on the floor, face upward, staring at the ceiling until someone came to his aid. If no one
helped, the other male experimenter eventually helped the victim to his feet. Several variations of this incident
were staged by the experimenters. Sometimes the victim carried a black cane and looked ill, sometimes he smelled
of alcohol and carried a bottle of liquor in a brown paper bag. Predict how the bystanders responded. In which
condition were they more likely to help? Explain the reasons for your predictions.
Study 4: Research subjects volunteered to participate in what they thought was a study looking at personal
problems of university students. Subjects were led into a room where they put on headphones and spoke into a
microphone. They were told they would carry on a conversation with other students located in other rooms in the
corridor. The reason for being alone rather than face to face for the conversation was to avoid embarrassment and
remain anonymous while discussing personal problems. The experimenter indicated he would not listen to the
conversation and would give them a questionnaire to fill out after the conversation. Each subject had two minutes to
speak during which the other microphones would be turned offother subjects could listen but not be heard.
Subjects were led to believe that there were either 2, 3 or 6 subjects taking part in the conversation. In reality there
was only one real subject; all the other student voices were just tape recordings. The actual subject was the last to
speak. The first person to speak admitted that it was hard getting used to living in NYC and his academic work
was also very difficult. The person went on to describe having epileptic seizuresespecially during stressful times
like when working hard or during exam time. All the other subjects then contributed their individual two minute
statements to the conversation. When it was the first persons turn to speak again he began to sputter and speak
incoherently about feeling ill and like a seizure was coming on. He continued to speak incoherently while asking
for help.

In which conditions were the subjects more or less likely to leave their room and try to help the victim
(when the only other person was the victim, when there were two other people, when there were five other
people in the conversation?) Explain the reasons for your prediction.
[1]

A confederate is someone working with the experimenter to deceive the actual subjects. In this case the confederates ignored
the smoke and continued to work on the questionnaire.

Bystander Studies Handout

Used in class discussion to explain Bystander Intervention Post-Test answers

Results of Bystander Intervention Studies

Study 1: The smoke filled room

75% of the subject in the room alone reported the smoke within 2 minutes.

13% of the subjects waiting with others reported the smoke this quickly.

10% of the subjects waiting with the confederates reported the smoke even after 6 minutes.
Even when the room was filled with smoke, few subjects in groups of three reported the smoke to the
experimenter. Afterwards subjects said that they did not want to look foolish by complaining about a
situation that may not have actually constituted an emergency.
Study 2: The fallen female experimenter

Twice as many subjects got up to help when they were alone than if they were waiting with others.
Those who did not respond reported that they were uncertain that it was an emergency.
Study 3: The man who collapses on the subway

The victim with the cane received help 95% of the time and usually within 5 seconds

The drunk received help 50% of the time after an average of 1 minutes.
Drunk responsible for his own plight
Helping drunk may involve greater cost (e.g., turn aggressive)
Study 4: College student who has a seizure

All the subjects who thought they were waiting alone left the room to help within about 52
seconds.

85% of the subjects who thought they were in a three person group left to help in an average time
of 93 seconds.

62% of the subjects who thought they were part of a 6 person group left to help in an average time
of almost 3 minutes.
A Major Finding from the Bystander Intervention Research
Altruistic behavior is strongly influenced by the social situationin particular by the number of
bystanders present. The general finding is that the greater the number of bystanders present the less likely
one is to help.