Research Paper
Abstract
This experiment was based on the bystander experiment, "
The effect of the presence of others on an individual's
perception of and response to a situation (Strickland p. 102)". The goal of this experiment was to see which gender would have the most
good samaritans. Scientists like John Darley and Bibb Latane were some of the
first to conduct bystander experiments. The dropping papers experiment is the
one my group chose to research. This experiment consists of a tester dropping
papers while walking with a crowd and seeing who takes the time to help and who
just walks by.
Introduction
Researchers have done many social experiments to try to figure out the human
mind. There are many different types of social experiments that have been
conducted throughout the years. One type of social experiment is called the good
samaritan experiment, also known as the bystander effect. Some of the first
scientists to conduct an experiment like this were John Darley and Bibb Latane
in 1968. Within the next twelve years they conducted four dozen social
expeirments and all of them had the same results. In 2008 Mark Levine and Simon
Crowther conducted a bystander effect experiment and found out that groups had
played a factor in the results. If people were walking by themselves they were
more likely to help the person in trouble. If a group of random people walked by
it was likely that no one was going to help because they assumed that someone
was bound to help them. When a group of friends walked by they would talk about
the person in trouble and maybe help them out.
Our purpose for conducting this experiment was to see which gender was going
to have the most good samaritans. We feel that gender was going to play a big
role in our social experiment. Our hypothesis for our experiment was that more
females were going to help than males. We also thought if a person who was
walking by him or herself rather than in a group was more likely to help. Our
final hypothesis was that more girls were going to help our male tester and more
males were going to help our female tester.
Methods
After looking at the different experiments for the bystander effect our
group decided to do the paper dropping experiment. This is the experiment when a
person drops a pile of papers and sees if bystanders will help them pick the
papers up or walk by. We had one male and female as our testers (the people who
dropped the papers). We chose four locations and scenarios to drop the papers on
the Arizona State University campus. Our locations were by the Starbucks in the
MU, the back of the MU, by the fireplace in the MU. We had two different
locations for our boy and girl testers for the fourth location. We chose two
places where there was a big group of people. One was outside the BAC building
when classes got out and the other was by a tour group.
We started the experiment by having our girl tester go to the locations and
drop the papers. For each location we had her drop the papers twice. Her final
location was by the BAC building. After we finished with her trials we went
around the MU again and had our male tester drop the papers. His final location
was by the tour group.
Our independent variable for our experiment were our testers (the male and
female). The dependent variable for the project were the people who helped pick
up the papers. To decide when our testers would drop the papers we would have
them wait until a good amount of people, 4-5, walked by. We had them drop a
folder of papers with some of the papers on top of the folder so we were certain
papers would scatter.
Results
For our first trial at our first location, Starbucks by the MU, we had our
female drop the papers. Only one guy helped her pick up her papers. Next we went
to the back of the MU. For our first trial there a group of elderly women who
walked by our tester did not help her pick up the papers. For our second trial
male helped our tester pick up the papers. For our third location we went to the
fireplace inside the MU. Our tester dropped the papers near a middle-aged female
and male. The male helped our tester pick up her papers and the female bent down
to help but didn't pick up any of the papers. During our second trial our tester
dropped the papers by a group of four people, three females and one male. Out of
everyone in the group one of the females helped pick up the papers while the
others watched. Our fourth location was outside of the MU. For our first trial a
male and female helped our tester pick up the papers. When our tester dropped
the papers some of them fell on a girl's shoe and she looked at the tester and
walked away. While she was walking away she looked back at our tester again. We
think that she would've helped pick up the papers if the other two people didn't
help and if she wasn't on her phone. For our second trial no one helped out our
tester even though many people walked by. As an extra location we went to the
BAC building when classes were getiing out. For the first trial one male helped
our tester. He was walking with two other boys but he was the only one who
helped. The results for the second trial were two males and one female helping
our tester. The male and female were walking together and one male was walking
by himself.
Next our male tester tried out the experiment. Just like our female tester,
we started at Starbucks. When our tester dropped the papers no one helped him.
We saw a group of girls and an elderly man walk by. The next location we went to
was the back of the MU. No one helped our tester during the first trial but for
our second trial two males helped. One of the males who helped was even riding a
bike. The third place we went to was by the fireplace in the MU. For the first
trial no one helped our tester and a group of people just walked by him and
stared. But for the second trial a male helped him pick up his pile of dropped
papers. For the final location we had our tester drop the papers by a tour
guide. Out of everyone on the tour one man from the group stopped to help pick
up the papers.
Discussion
Our groups hypothesis about which gender would help pick up the most papers
was wrong. We predicted that more females would help than males but it was
actually more males that helped than females. Overall, thirteen people were
"good samaritans". About eighty percent were males and about twenty percent were
females. Our hypothesis about more boys would help our girl tester and more
girls would help our male tester was partially correct. Six males helped our
female tester while four helped our male tester. Three females helped our female
tester while zero females helped our male tester. Our group did notice that
every time a female helped she was with a group. About ninety percent of the
people who helped pick up the papers were in a group, which made our hypothesis
incorrect. We thought that someone who was walking by themselves was more likely
to help. This shows that humans are more comfortable helping someone when they
are with someone else. Females are known to be more caring and concerned for
others too which is why our group thought that more females were going to help
pick up the papers.
Some limitations our experiment had were the amount of time we had to do the
experiment and we couldn't communicate with our testers when they went to drop
the papers. Our group didn't have enough time to do the experiment so we didn't
get to use our male tester as much as we wanted to. When our testers went to go
drop the papers they walked a few feet away from the other group members so we
couldn't communicate with eachother. There were times when we thought it
would've been the perfect time to drop the papers but we couldn't tell our
testers when to drop them. For future studies, I recommend that you find some
way to communicate with your tester when they are away from you. You should
either attach a headphone to them or come up with some kind of signal so they
know when to drop the pile of papers.
This experiment was based on the bystander experiment, "
The effect of the presence of others on an individual's
perception of and response to a situation (Strickland p. 102)". The goal of this experiment was to see which gender would have the most
good samaritans. Scientists like John Darley and Bibb Latane were some of the
first to conduct bystander experiments. The dropping papers experiment is the
one my group chose to research. This experiment consists of a tester dropping
papers while walking with a crowd and seeing who takes the time to help and who
just walks by.
Introduction
Researchers have done many social experiments to try to figure out the human
mind. There are many different types of social experiments that have been
conducted throughout the years. One type of social experiment is called the good
samaritan experiment, also known as the bystander effect. Some of the first
scientists to conduct an experiment like this were John Darley and Bibb Latane
in 1968. Within the next twelve years they conducted four dozen social
expeirments and all of them had the same results. In 2008 Mark Levine and Simon
Crowther conducted a bystander effect experiment and found out that groups had
played a factor in the results. If people were walking by themselves they were
more likely to help the person in trouble. If a group of random people walked by
it was likely that no one was going to help because they assumed that someone
was bound to help them. When a group of friends walked by they would talk about
the person in trouble and maybe help them out.
Our purpose for conducting this experiment was to see which gender was going
to have the most good samaritans. We feel that gender was going to play a big
role in our social experiment. Our hypothesis for our experiment was that more
females were going to help than males. We also thought if a person who was
walking by him or herself rather than in a group was more likely to help. Our
final hypothesis was that more girls were going to help our male tester and more
males were going to help our female tester.
Methods
After looking at the different experiments for the bystander effect our
group decided to do the paper dropping experiment. This is the experiment when a
person drops a pile of papers and sees if bystanders will help them pick the
papers up or walk by. We had one male and female as our testers (the people who
dropped the papers). We chose four locations and scenarios to drop the papers on
the Arizona State University campus. Our locations were by the Starbucks in the
MU, the back of the MU, by the fireplace in the MU. We had two different
locations for our boy and girl testers for the fourth location. We chose two
places where there was a big group of people. One was outside the BAC building
when classes got out and the other was by a tour group.
We started the experiment by having our girl tester go to the locations and
drop the papers. For each location we had her drop the papers twice. Her final
location was by the BAC building. After we finished with her trials we went
around the MU again and had our male tester drop the papers. His final location
was by the tour group.
Our independent variable for our experiment were our testers (the male and
female). The dependent variable for the project were the people who helped pick
up the papers. To decide when our testers would drop the papers we would have
them wait until a good amount of people, 4-5, walked by. We had them drop a
folder of papers with some of the papers on top of the folder so we were certain
papers would scatter.
Results
For our first trial at our first location, Starbucks by the MU, we had our
female drop the papers. Only one guy helped her pick up her papers. Next we went
to the back of the MU. For our first trial there a group of elderly women who
walked by our tester did not help her pick up the papers. For our second trial
male helped our tester pick up the papers. For our third location we went to the
fireplace inside the MU. Our tester dropped the papers near a middle-aged female
and male. The male helped our tester pick up her papers and the female bent down
to help but didn't pick up any of the papers. During our second trial our tester
dropped the papers by a group of four people, three females and one male. Out of
everyone in the group one of the females helped pick up the papers while the
others watched. Our fourth location was outside of the MU. For our first trial a
male and female helped our tester pick up the papers. When our tester dropped
the papers some of them fell on a girl's shoe and she looked at the tester and
walked away. While she was walking away she looked back at our tester again. We
think that she would've helped pick up the papers if the other two people didn't
help and if she wasn't on her phone. For our second trial no one helped out our
tester even though many people walked by. As an extra location we went to the
BAC building when classes were getiing out. For the first trial one male helped
our tester. He was walking with two other boys but he was the only one who
helped. The results for the second trial were two males and one female helping
our tester. The male and female were walking together and one male was walking
by himself.
Next our male tester tried out the experiment. Just like our female tester,
we started at Starbucks. When our tester dropped the papers no one helped him.
We saw a group of girls and an elderly man walk by. The next location we went to
was the back of the MU. No one helped our tester during the first trial but for
our second trial two males helped. One of the males who helped was even riding a
bike. The third place we went to was by the fireplace in the MU. For the first
trial no one helped our tester and a group of people just walked by him and
stared. But for the second trial a male helped him pick up his pile of dropped
papers. For the final location we had our tester drop the papers by a tour
guide. Out of everyone on the tour one man from the group stopped to help pick
up the papers.
Discussion
Our groups hypothesis about which gender would help pick up the most papers
was wrong. We predicted that more females would help than males but it was
actually more males that helped than females. Overall, thirteen people were
"good samaritans". About eighty percent were males and about twenty percent were
females. Our hypothesis about more boys would help our girl tester and more
girls would help our male tester was partially correct. Six males helped our
female tester while four helped our male tester. Three females helped our female
tester while zero females helped our male tester. Our group did notice that
every time a female helped she was with a group. About ninety percent of the
people who helped pick up the papers were in a group, which made our hypothesis
incorrect. We thought that someone who was walking by themselves was more likely
to help. This shows that humans are more comfortable helping someone when they
are with someone else. Females are known to be more caring and concerned for
others too which is why our group thought that more females were going to help
pick up the papers.
Some limitations our experiment had were the amount of time we had to do the
experiment and we couldn't communicate with our testers when they went to drop
the papers. Our group didn't have enough time to do the experiment so we didn't
get to use our male tester as much as we wanted to. When our testers went to go
drop the papers they walked a few feet away from the other group members so we
couldn't communicate with eachother. There were times when we thought it
would've been the perfect time to drop the papers but we couldn't tell our
testers when to drop them. For future studies, I recommend that you find some
way to communicate with your tester when they are away from you. You should
either attach a headphone to them or come up with some kind of signal so they
know when to drop the pile of papers.