PSYCH 104 Lecture Notes - Lecture 27: Murder Of Kitty Genovese, Wang Yue, Chat Room
Document Summary
The legacy of the bystander effect research providing help in an emergency is a challenging process. At each step along the way, barriers and diversions can prevent a potential helper from becoming an actual one. Peter fischer conducted studies on the bystander effect and concluded that the evidence supports that the presence of others inhibits individual bystanders from helping. They did note, however, that the effect was readily reduced when the situation was clearly a dangerous one, and therefore helping was more obviously required. When stories such as the hit and run of wang yue, or the woman with dementia who froze to death are covered in the news, the name kitty genovese invariably comes up. Given its enduring legacy, it is interesting to note that some of the original details reported about the witnesses to the kitty genovese murder may, in fact, be inaccurate.
