Factors affect EWT: Anxiety

Question 1

What is anxiety?

Answer 1

A state of emotional and physical arousal, the emotions experienced include worried thoughts and feelings of tension. Physical changes include an increased heart rate and sweat production, it is a normal reaction to stressful situations, but can affect the accuracy and detail of eyewitness testimony.

Question 2

Who conducted a study on the weapon focus effect?

Answer 2

Johnson and Scott (1976).

Question 3

Does anxiety have a positive or negative effect on recall?

Answer 3

Trick question - research has supported the idea that it both positively affects and negatively affects testimony accuracy.

Question 4

What is the main argument for the idea that anxiety has a negative effect on recall?

Answer 4

Anxiety creates a physiological arousal in the body which prevents us from paying attention to important cues, so recall is worse.

Question 5

Explain the weapon focus effect:

Answer 5

In a violent crime the witness experiences a heightened sense of anxiety and attention is focused to the danger (weapon) rather than other important cues (appearance of the perpetrator).

Question 6

What is the main argument for the idea that anxiety has a positive effect on recall?

Answer 6

The anxiety experienced triggers the fight-or-flight response which increases our alertness and improves memory as we become hyper-vigilant.

Question 7

Who found that anxiety negatively affects recall in their study?

Answer 7

Johnson and Scott (1976).

Question 8

What was the aim of the experiment done by Johnson and Scott (1976)?

Answer 8

To investigate the effect of anxiety on EWT due to the ‘weapon focus effect’.

Question 9

What type of study was performed by Johnson and Scott (1976)?

Answer 9

A lab study.

Question 10

What was the IV in the experiment done by Yuille and Cutshall (1986)?

Answer 10

Stress levels.

Question 11

What was the procedure undertaken by Johnson and Scott (1976)?

Answer 11

• Participants in a waiting room overheard a heated discussion in the room next door.
• The participants then experienced one of two conditions; a man emerging with an ink-stained pen or a blood-stained (paper) knife.
• They then had to identify the man who left the room from a series of 50 faces.

Question 12

What was the DV in the experiment done by Yuille and Cutshall (1986)?

Answer 12

Accuracy of recall from memory.

Question 13

What was the DV in the experiment done by Johnson and Scott (1976)?

Answer 13

Identifying the perpetrators face.

Question 14

In the experiment done by Yuille and Cutshall (1986), they utilised a real-life situation - what was this situation?

Answer 14

The shooting (and killing) of a thief in a gun shop in Vancouver, Canada.

Question 15

Who found that anxiety positively affects recall in their study?

Answer 15

Yuille and Cutshall (1986).

Question 16

How many participants agreed to take part in the experiment done by Yuille and Cutshall (1986)?

Answer 16

13 witnesses agreed to take part, (12 asked not to take part).

Question 17

What was the findings by Johnson and Scott (1976)?

Answer 17

49% were able to identify the man with the pen whilst only 33% were able to identify the face when he left the room with a paper knife.

Question 18

How was the DV measured in the experiment done by Yuille and Cutshall (1986)?

Answer 18

The accuracy of recall was measured by the number of details reported in each account.

Question 19

What was the IV in the experiment done by Johnson and Scott (1976)?

Answer 19

The object held by the man who left the room (paper knife or ink-stained pen).

Question 20

What procedure was used by Yuille and Cutshall (1986)?

Answer 20

• They interviewed each participant 4-5 months after the incident,
• Their interviews were compared with the original statements given to the police just after the shooting,
• They were also asked how stressed they had felt at the time on a 7-point scale and if they had had any emotional problems since then (eg sleeping).

Question 21

What is tunnel theory?

Answer 21

That the witness’s attention narrows to the weapon, because it is a source of anxiety for them.

Question 22

What results were found by Yuille and Cutshall (1986)?

Answer 22

The witnesses were very accurate and little changed after 5 months, those who reported highest stress levels were most accurate - 88%, compared to those who reported less stress - 75%.

Question 23

What was the conclusion made by Johnson and Scott (1976)?

Answer 23

That weapon focus effect had a negative influence on recall and the tunnel theory could be applied.

Question 24

Which model did Yerkes and Dodson (1908) use to explain the contradictory findings?

Answer 24

The ‘inverted U’ model. (same as P.E)

Question 25

What was the Yerkes-Dodson Law?

Answer 25

The ‘inverted-U’. (same as P.E)

Question 26

Explain the pattern seen in the ‘inverted U’:

Answer 26

As stress increases so does performance (recall accuracy), this is until a point of optimal arousal. From this point any increase in arousal will result in decreased performance (recall accuracy).

Question 27

AO3 - Weapon focus effect relevance.

Answer 27

In Johnson and Scott’s study (1976) they may be testing suprise rather than anxiety. Pickel (1998) conducted an experiment using scissors, a handgun, a wallet and raw chicken in a hairdressing salon. Eyewitness accuracy was significantly poorer in the high unusual conditions (chicken and handgun) which suggests weapon focus effect is due to surprise rather than anxiety.

Question 28

AO3 - Field studies lack control.

Answer 28

Researchers usually interview real-life eyewitnesses sometime after the event, these field studies have no control over things that will happen to the participant such as post-event discussion, media coverage or police interviews. Therefore, these variables may affect the accuracy of recall dramatically.

Question 29

AO3 - Ethical issues.

Answer 29

Creating anxiety in participants is very risky and due to the nature of the experiments they cannot give informed consent. This is why-real life studies are mainly used, because they have already witnessed the event, so there is no need to recreate it. The benefits of the research are also likely to outweigh the negative implications.

Question 30

AO3 - Inverted-U is simplistic.

Answer 30

Anxiety is very hard to define and measure accurately, mainly because there are behavioural, cognitive, emotional and physical aspects. The inverted U theory only links to hte physical aspect of arousal and neglects the other aspects.

Question 31

AO3 - Demand characteristics operate in lab studies.

Answer 31

Most lab studies show participants a filmed (usually staged) crime, most ptps are aware of this and are aware they are watching for the reason to complete the study. Therefore, they are more likely to respond to demand characteristics which decreases the internal validity of the study.