factors affecting accuracy of EWT; anxiety Flashcards
(6 cards)
AO1 - anxiety decreases accuracy
Some research suggests that anxiety decreases the accuracy of EWT.
In the weapon focus experiment by Johnson and Scott, participants were led to believe that they were taking part in a lab experiment, and while waiting, heard an argument in the next room.
In the low-anxiety condition, a man walked out of the room carrying a pen with grease on his hands. And in the high-anxiety condition, a man walked out of the room holding a paper knife covered in blood.
The participants then had to pick out the man that left the room from a set of 50 photos. Correct recall in low anxiety condition - 49%. Correct recall in high anxiety conditions - 33%.
AO1 - increases accuracy
some research suggests that anxiety increases the accuracy of EWT.
Yuille and Cutshall conducted research into a real life crime.
They followed up 13 eyewitnesses 5 months after a shooting in Canada.
Found that eyewitness accuracy was still high after this period.
Participants were also asked how stressed they felt at the time of the incident, and those who reported the highest levels of stress gave the highest accuracy - 88% accurate.
Anxiety did not make recall of the real life scenario worse - it enhanced recall.
AO3 - anxiety difficult to define & measure
Anxiety is very difficult to define and measure empirically, as it is experienced differently by everyone. This is because there are numerous elements to it; cognitive, behavioural and biological. Therefore, studies measuring anxiety may not be generalisable to the whole population, as the level or type of anxiety experienced may be different amongst people.
AO3 - weapon focus effect due to surprise not anxiety
A researcher believed that the weapon focus effect was due to surprise, not anxiety. They showed that participants were least accurate in identifying a man they saw run into a hair salon when they were carrying a high surprise object (a whole raw chicken) than a high threat object (a handgun). This therefore shows that other factors will have a larger impact on the accuracy of EWT than anxiety.
AO3 - weapon focus lab experiment
Weapon focus effect was a lab experiment, therefore it has low ecological validity. This is because it was not conducted in a real life setting, meaning it is artificial and so the findings cannot be generalised beyond the experiment to the whole population. However due to the high level of control in lab experiments, it means that it is able to be repeated to produce the same results, therefore has high reliability.
On the flip side, Yuille and Cutshall’s research was on a real-life scenario. Therefore the ecological validity was high so it can be generalised.
AO3 - ethical issues
There are significant ethical issues associated with forcing participants to recall traumatic crimes which have occurred in the past (Yuille and Cutshall). This breaches the BPS guideline of the right of the participant to be protected from psychological harm, thus meaning that a cost-benefit analysis would be needed to compare the associated ethical costs with the benefits of increased knowledge of the effects of anxiety on the accuracy of EWT.
