The Smoky Room Experiment: If you saw someone in trouble, do you think you would try to help? Psychologists have found that the answer to this question is highly dependent on the number of other people present. 1/10
We are much more likely to help when we are the only witness but much less likely to lend a hand when we are part of a crowd. The phenomenon came to the public's attention after the gruesome murder of a young woman named Kitty Genovese. 2/10
According to the classic tale, while multiple people may have witnessed her attack, no one called for help until it was much too late. This behavior was identified as an example of the bystander effect: failure of people to take action when there are other people present. 3/10
(In reality, several witnesses did immediately call 911, so the real Genovese case was not a perfect example of the bystander effect.) 4/10
How Diffusion of Responsibility Affects the Way We Act in Groups: In one classic experiment, researchers had participants sit in a room to fill out questionnaires. Suddenly, the room began to fill with smoke. 5/10
In some cases the participant was alone, in some there were three unsuspecting participants in the room, and in the final condition, there was one participant and two confederates. 6/10
In the situation involving the two confederates who were in on the experiment, these actors ignored the smoke and went on filling out their questionnaires. 7/10
When the participants were alone, about three-quarters of the participants left the room calmly to report the smoke to the researchers.
In the condition with three real participants, only 38% reported the smoke. 8/10
In the final condition where the two confederates ignored the smoke, a mere 10% of participants left to report the smoke. The experiment is a great example of how much people rely on the responses of others to guide their actions. 9/10
Source: Kendra Cherry (2020)
Fact checked: Emily Swaim

Benderly, BL. Psychology's tall tales. gradPSYCH Magazine. (2012). 10/10

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More from @drlouisehansen

12 Mar
#WhyIMarch: ‘Let only the truth be the authority of your life; May you always be free.’ I will #March4Justiceau because I found the solution to justice: I switched from self-esteem (aka ‘survival of the fittest’) to self-compassion (aka ‘enlightenment’). 1/17 #Auspol
When I finished my psychology degree, I got the best mark across two university campuses. I was awarded a scholarship to undertake a PhD. I was teaching psychology at the university and my best friend was science. My PhD was on the neuroscience of emotion. 2/17
My research question was: Where is emotion in the brain? Well it turned out that emotion is not just in the brain. News flash: This is a living cosmos! Like it or not; we are all connected. Like star dust.🌟I challenged outdated theories; I even noted science’s reductionism. 3/17
Read 17 tweets
12 Mar
The Federal Government has sole responsibility for immigration matters: policy, border control, visa grants and conditions, funding and support, and refugees and people seeking asylum held in immigration detention. 1/16 #March4Justiceau #TimeForAHome #Auspol
You are encourage you to write to the Honourable Peter Dutton MP, Federal Minister for Home Affairs to raise your concerns. Ministers, such as Honourable Leanne Linard MP, Minister for Children and Youth Justice and Minister for Multicultural Affairs, among others 2/16
share your concerns about the impact of many of the Federal Government’s policies on refugees and people seeking asylum and is aware of serious reports of the deteriorating mental health of refugees and people seeking asylum held in secure immigration detention including, 3/16
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12 Mar
Psychosis:

“A mantra is a beautiful thing, there is no question about it, but nothing is bigger than silence.” - Sadhguru

“What if psychosis is not losing touch with reality? What if it is us touching reality?” - Dr Louise Hansen 1/29
The portal for genius is also the same portal for insanity. Like the matrix. There is no key. There is no door. There are no walls. The highest realisation: freedom. So how does one break the boundaries of their physical body and psychological structure? Clarity. 2/29
A large scale vision,
Borderless and boundless,
The highest realisation,
I am that which is not. 3/29
Read 29 tweets
11 Mar
The real story of Phineas Gage: Ever heard of Phineas Gage, who survived a spike through his head that transformed him from a gentle man into an angry drunk? More than 60%of psychology textbooks tell the story of Gage, according to historian Malcolm Macmillan. 1/15
Gage's supposed personality and cognitive transformation happened in 1848, when the 25-year-old railroad company foreman was blasting away rock to clear the way for a railroad. 2/15
He drilled a hole into a rock and pushed explosive powder into the hole with a three-and-a-half-foot-long iron. The powder exploded unexpectedly, driving the iron below his left cheekbone and out through the crown of his head. 3/15
Read 15 tweets
11 Mar
Robbers Cave Experiment: Why do conflicts tend to occur between different groups? Is there anything that can bring peace to rival groups? According to psychologist Muzafer Sherif, intergroup conflicts tend to arise from competition for resources, stereotypes, and prejudices. 1/5
In a controversial experiment, the researchers placed 22 boys between the ages of 11 and 12 in two groups at a camp in the Robbers Cave Park in Oklahoma. The boys were separated into two groups and spent the first week of the experiment bonding with their other group members. 2/5
It wasn't until the second phase of the experiment that the children learned that there was another group, at which point the experimenters placed the two groups in direct competition with each other. This led to considerable discord. 3/5
Read 5 tweets
11 Mar
Violinist at the Metro Experiment: An interesting study was conducted by the staff of the Washington Post to test how observant people are of what is going on around them. 1/7
During the study, pedestrians rushed by without realising that the musician playing at the entrance to the metro stop was Grammy-winning musician, Joshua Bell, who, two days before his playing in the subway, sold out 2/7
at a theater in Boston where the seats average $100. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars. In the 45 minutes the musician played his violin, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. 3/7
Read 7 tweets

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