This is hidden brain.
I'm Shankar Vedantam.
Early one morning in March 1964, a woman named Kitty Genovese was on her way home from the bar where she worked.
She parked her car and was walking toward her apartment building when a man attacked and killed her.
Over the years, Kitty Genovese's murder has been the focus of countless books, movies, and psychology research papers.
It drew attention not only because it was a grisly crime, but because it supposedly explained a deep flaw in human nature.
The New York Times published an article that said dozens of people saw the murder or heard Kitty Genovese screaming for help, but no one intervened.
When someone did call the police, it was too late.
In the decades that followed, the case came to symbolize a psychological phenomenon known as the bystander effect.
When lots of people see something is wrong, the theory goes, each person wrongly assumes someone else will step up to help.
The net effect is that as the number of potential helpers increases, the number of people who actually help decreases.
In recent years, psychologists and journalists have re examined the facts of the Kitty genovese story and walked back some of the claims.
The Times has said that its initial reporting was flawed and exaggerated.
I think the power of the kitty Genevieve story lies in the fact that in everyday life, we all notice that we are not as helpful and brave as we would like to be.
We look away from people who are suffering.
We cross the street to avoid an altercation, even when the stakes are low for personal safety, we don't extend a hand to others who need help.
This week on hidden brain, the curious psychology behind a phenomenon that is all around us and how understanding a quirk inside our minds can help us become the kind of people we admire.
My name is Gary Knight.
I'm the CEO of the Seven foundation, which is a media non profit.
I'm also a very keen amateur cyclist.