Session 02 - Introduction to the Visual Argument Structure Tool

Intro to theory 2 / VAST-Displays
  • Create subfolder homework/02-VAST in the homework repository
  • Make sure that the file VAST_Displays.xml is available in the root folder of the homework repository. This file contains all VAST shapes for draw.io.
  • Install and authorize the draw.io app in Github (only then access to private repositories is possible):

Overview

Topic Duration Notes
Wrap up [Homework 2]: Smaldino (2013), Chapter 1 15
Git Tutorial troubleshooting 30
Lecture: Short introduction to VAST 60 Slides
Lecture: What is (not) a theory? (Part 1) 30 Slides, 1-17

Homework 1 (individually): Read the VAST paper

Read the VAST paper:

Leising, D., Grenke, O., & Cramer, M. (2023). Visual Argument Structure Tool (VAST) Version 1.0. Meta-Psychology, 7. https://open.lnu.se/index.php/metapsychology/article/view/2911

Deliverable: Nothing - just read it and understand it.

Homework 2 (individually): Your first (mini) VAST display

This homework consists of two steps, A and B:

  1. Read the original definition of the concept “diffusion of responsibility”, printed below (no need to read the full paper yet). Darley and Latané introduced the term in 1968, it’s even in the title of the publication: “Bystander intervention in emergencies: Diffusion of responsibility.”

These are the paragraphs that describe the concept (p. 377f):

[After introducing the case of Kitty Genovese:] “In certain circumstances, the norms favoring intervention may be weakened, leading bystanders to resolve the conflict in the direction of nonintervention. One of these circumstances may be the presence of other onlookers. For example, in the case above, each observer, by seeing lights and figures in other apartment house windows, knew that others were also watching. However, there was no way to tell how the other observers were reacting. These two facts provide several reasons why any individual may have delayed or failed to help. The responsibility for helping was diffused among the observers; there was also diffusion of any potential blame for not taking action; and finally, it was possible that somebody, unperceived, had already initiated helping action.

When only one bystander is present in an emergency, if help is to come, it must come from him. Although he may choose to ignore it (out of concern for his personal safety, or desires “not to get involved”), any pressure to intervene focuses uniquely on him. When there are several observers present, however, the pressures to intervene do not focus on any one of the observers; instead the responsibility for intervention is shared among all the onlookers and is not unique to any one. As a result, no one helps.

A second possibility is that potential blame may be diffused. However much we may wish to think that an individual’s moral behavior is divorced from considerations of personal punishment or reward, there is both theory and evidence to the contrary (Aronfreed, 1964; Miller & Bollard, 1941, Whiting & Child, 19S3). It is perfectly reasonable to assume that, under circumstances of group responsibility for a punishable act, the punishment or blame that accrues to any one individual is often slight or nonexistent.

Finally, if others are known to be present, but their behavior cannot be closely observed, any one bystander can assume that one of the other observers is already taking action to end the emergency. Therefore, his own intervention would be only redundant—perhaps harmfully or confusingly so. Thus, given the presence of other onlookers whose behavior cannot be observed, any given bystander can rationalize his own inaction by convincing himself that “somebody else must be doing something.”

  1. Draw your first (mini) VAST display for the definition of the concept “diffusion of responsibility” with draw.io (see concrete instructions below under “Deliverable”). You can either use the online version of draw.io, or download the desktop application. As you may have noted, Darley and Latané provide no explicit section stating “Diffusion of responsibility is defined as …”. Therefore, you need to capture the essential elements of their definition yourself; do it precisely but also concisely in your VAST display.

Deliverables:

Install VAST shapes in draw.io:

To add VAST displays more easily in draw.io, Benedikt Ehrenwirth created a library with pre-made VAST elements.

In the online version of draw.io, you can insert the library file by going to Datei > Bibliothek öffnen von … > GitHub…, then navigating to our homework repository and selecting VAST_Displays.xml > Autorisieren.

  • In the desktop version of draw.io, you might need to run git pull to download the file VAST_Displays.xml to your local repository Then, go to Datei > Bibliothek öffnen, and select the VAST_Displays.xml file in your local repository.

After successful installation, you should see a new section “VAST Displays” in the left sidebar of draw.io:

Save your draw.io diagram in Github:

For task 2B, save your draw.io VAST diagram in our Homework Repository by choosing “Github” as destination for your file:

Then choose the Homework Repository (Note: The screenshots might show an old homework repository, but you should select our current homework repository):

… and navigate to the correct homework folder:

Save the diagram with your name as filename (homework/02-VAST/YOURNAME.drawio). Additionally, save the diagram as a .png or .jpg file in the same folder (homework/02-VAST/YOURNAME.png). Use Datei -> Exportieren als -> PNG/JPG in draw.io to do so.