PSY 3790 Module 5 Prosocial Behavior, Aggression and the Law Paper: Bystanders, Violent Games and Eyewitness Memory Example

Everyone Heard, No One Called: Helping, Harm and Memory After a Hallway Assault

Student Name

Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Thomas Edison State University

PSY-3790: Social Psychology

Mentor Name

Month Day, Year

Everyone Heard, No One Called: Helping, Harm and Memory After a Hallway Assault

Introduction

Last month, a resident was assaulted in our third-floor hallway late at night. Afterward, I learned that at least five neighbors heard shouting, but no one called 911 for about ten minutes, each assuming someone else had. When police interviewed witnesses, their accounts differed, and one later said she remembered the attacker wearing a red jacket only after an officer asked about "the man in red." This module examines why people help or fail to help, what drives aggression and how social psychology informs the legal system.

Why People Help

Prosocial behavior includes any action intended to benefit others. Explanations include empathy, which motivates helping for the other person's sake; social norms, such as reciprocity and social responsibility; and cost-benefit calculations, in which people weigh the costs of helping and of not helping. Whether people help also depends heavily on the situation.

The Bystander Effect

Darley and Latané (1968) asked students to discuss personal problems over an intercom, each in a separate room, supposedly to protect privacy. During the discussion, a voice on the intercom, really a tape, seemed to be having a seizure and called for help. Of those who thought nobody else was listening, 85 percent went for help while the seizure was still going on. Among those who thought four other people were also listening, only 31 percent did, and those who helped did so more slowly. The authors explained the result as diffusion of responsibility: when others are present, each person feels less responsible for acting.

When Does the Bystander Effect Weaken?

Fischer et al. (2011) meta-analyzed more than 100 studies of bystander intervention. The presence of other bystanders reduced helping overall, confirming the effect. But the effect was weaker in dangerous emergencies, such as situations involving a present perpetrator or physical danger, than in non-dangerous ones. The authors suggested that dangerous emergencies are recognized more quickly as real emergencies and that other bystanders can be a source of physical support in intervening.

Understanding Aggression

Aggression is behavior intended to harm someone who wants to avoid harm. Its causes include frustration, provocation, heat and crowding, alcohol, learned patterns and cultural norms. A long debate concerns whether violent media increases aggression.

Violent Video Games

Anderson et al. (2010) meta-analyzed 136 research reports with more than 130,000 participants from Eastern and Western countries. Exposure to violent video games was associated with increases in aggressive behavior, thoughts and feelings and with decreases in empathy and prosocial behavior. Effects were found in experimental, cross-sectional and longitudinal studies and were similar in Eastern and Western countries. The effects were small in size. Other researchers have disputed the conclusions, arguing that effects are smaller still after accounting for unpublished studies and weaker designs, and the debate continues.

Eyewitness Memory and the Law

Social psychology also informs legal procedures. Loftus and Palmer (1974) played films of traffic collisions for students and then asked about the cars' speed when they had "contacted," "hit," "bumped," "collided" or "smashed" into one another, with different students hearing different verbs. Estimated speeds rose with the intensity of the verb, from about 32 miles per hour for "contacted" to about 41 for "smashed." A week later, people who had heard "smashed" more than doubled their reports of broken glass, which the film never showed. The finding was that the wording of questions can alter memory itself.

A Building Safety Plan

The research suggests ways to counter diffusion of responsibility. We posted signs on each floor saying, "If you hear trouble, call 911 yourself; don't assume someone else has." We organized floor captains so that each person knows they are responsible for their floor. At a meeting, we taught the steps that research shows lead to helping: notice what is happening, recognize it as an emergency, accept that it is your job, choose how to help and then do it.

Helping Witnesses Remember Accurately

After learning about Loftus and Palmer's study, our association asked the local precinct about its interview procedures. Officers explained that they now use open-ended questions first, such as "Tell me what you saw," before specific ones, practices consistent with research on memory.

Aggression in Context

Residents debated whether young people's video games contributed to violence in the area. The meta-analytic evidence suggests a small effect at most, far smaller than factors such as poverty, family conflict and access to weapons, so we focused our energy on youth programs and lighting rather than on games.

Encouraging Helping

Research suggests that people are more likely to help when they know how. Teaching residents what to do, such as calling 911, noting a description and staying with a victim if safe, reduces the uncertainty that holds bystanders back. Knowing neighbors by name also increases helping, since people feel more responsible for those they know.

Aggression and Heat

Research links hot weather and crowding to increased aggression. Our building's upper floors become very hot in summer, and complaints and conflicts rise. Pressing for repairs to the ventilation system is not only a comfort issue but potentially a safety one.

Limits

Laboratory bystander studies differ from real emergencies. The violent games debate is unresolved. Loftus and Palmer used films rather than real crimes.

Conclusion

Darley and Latané showed that the presence of others diffuses responsibility, Fischer and colleagues showed that clear danger can weaken this effect, Anderson and colleagues found small links between violent games and aggression and Loftus and Palmer showed that questions can reshape memory. Assigning responsibility, teaching neighbors to act and using careful questions can make our building safer and our accounts of what happened more accurate.

References

Anderson, C. A., Shibuya, A., Ihori, N., Swing, E. L., Bushman, B. J., Sakamoto, A., Rothstein, H. R., & Saleem, M. (2010). Violent video game effects on aggression, empathy, and prosocial behavior in Eastern and Western countries: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 136(2), 151-173. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018251

Darley, J. M., & Latané, B. (1968). Bystander intervention in emergencies: Diffusion of responsibility. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 8(4), 377-383. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0025589

Fischer, P., Krueger, J. I., Greitemeyer, T., Vogrincic, C., Kastenmüller, A., Frey, D., Heene, M., Wicher, M., & Kainbacher, M. (2011). The bystander-effect: A meta-analytic review on bystander intervention in dangerous and non-dangerous emergencies. Psychological Bulletin, 137(4), 517-537. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0023304

Loftus, E. F., & Palmer, J. C. (1974). Reconstruction of automobile destruction: An example of the interaction between language and memory. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 13(5), 585-589. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-5371(74)80011-3