Bibb Latane Experiment
Bibb Latane was born on July 19th 1937 in New York City, New York. In 1958 he earned his BA at Yale in Culture and Behavior. The reason why he choose this field could stay up late and sleep in. He earned his Ph.D. in Psychology at the University of Minnesota. In 1968 he received two awards in association with J. M. Darley, the American Association of Advancement of Science (AAAS) Behavioral Science Award and the Richard M. Elliot Memorial Award. He taught at several universities such as Columbia, the Ohio State, North Carolina and last Florida Atlantic University. In 1968 Latane and fellow Psychologist John Darley, conducted experiments in a laboratory using the bystander effect. The reason for this study due to in 1964, Kitty Genovese was
murder in front of a large crowd. The news people reported that about 38 people witness the murder and did nothing. None of them had the courage to call the police. All stood by and watch the tragic event. They stage an emergency situation to see how long will it take for people to intervene. In one of the experiments, he had one individual in a room, where smoke fills the room. He observed that individual immediately reported the situations. He also conducted the same experiment with a large group of people and observed that ten percent of the people reported the smoke while others just watch to see if anybody was going to do something. There, they discovered why people in group fail to act in emergency situations. He observed that a single person or two will likely help out more in an emergency than a large group of people. What Latane and Darley also concluded that by social influence, bystanders react in different emergency situations. The two main factors in which people react to emergencies are based o social proof and diffusion of responsibility. Social proof is the reaction of people watching other people to see if it is necessary to help. If a lot of people are just looking, the majority of the people will look also and do nothing. They assumed help is not needed. The other factor is diffusion of responsibility. It’s when people assume someone will help or intervene so they feel less responsible and do nothing. There are also other reasons why people will not help. One example is the bystander may fell they are not qualified to help or they might be afraid to help due to the person they are trying to help or save, that person or relatives might sue.
murder in front of a large crowd. The news people reported that about 38 people witness the murder and did nothing. None of them had the courage to call the police. All stood by and watch the tragic event. They stage an emergency situation to see how long will it take for people to intervene. In one of the experiments, he had one individual in a room, where smoke fills the room. He observed that individual immediately reported the situations. He also conducted the same experiment with a large group of people and observed that ten percent of the people reported the smoke while others just watch to see if anybody was going to do something. There, they discovered why people in group fail to act in emergency situations. He observed that a single person or two will likely help out more in an emergency than a large group of people. What Latane and Darley also concluded that by social influence, bystanders react in different emergency situations. The two main factors in which people react to emergencies are based o social proof and diffusion of responsibility. Social proof is the reaction of people watching other people to see if it is necessary to help. If a lot of people are just looking, the majority of the people will look also and do nothing. They assumed help is not needed. The other factor is diffusion of responsibility. It’s when people assume someone will help or intervene so they feel less responsible and do nothing. There are also other reasons why people will not help. One example is the bystander may fell they are not qualified to help or they might be afraid to help due to the person they are trying to help or save, that person or relatives might sue.