Factors Affecting Accuracy of Eye Witness Testimony: Anxiety Flashcards
(8 cards)
Define ‘anxiety’
A feeling of unease, such as worry or fear, that can be mild or severe.
In relation to EWT it is the worry or fear caused by witnessing an event such as an accident or crime
What does the inverted ‘U’ theory demonstrate about eye witness memory and anxiety?
The more alert/anxious you are up until the optimum point the better your memory as an eye witness will be.
However after that moptimum point is when your memory peprformance levels will begin to decrease and you may find you forget more due to anxiety levels
What research is there to demonstrate the effects of anxiety on eyewitness testimony?
Deffenbacher (1983): Meta-analysis of 21 studies. Found that eye witness testimony was affected by anxiety or stress in a way that followed the Yerkes Dodson curve
What conflicting research is there on memory of a crime?
Yuille and Cutshall (1986)
-LOOK IN MEMORY BOOKLET
What is meant by the term weapon focus?
Where a witness focuses their attention on the weapon being used in a crime.
This causes a state of anxiety which leads to difficulties in recalling other details accurately.
What was the experiment that supported the weapon focus?
Johnson & Scott:
Staged a crime scene, ppts asked to wait to start an experiment but actually the waiting was the experiment because there were two conditions. Two conditions (independent groups):
- Either heard a discussion & walked past them with a greasy pen
- Either heard a discussion & walked past them with a bloody letter opener
Variables all the same- same waiting room, same actors etc
What were Johnson & Scotts findings?
- Those who had witnessed the man holding a pen correctly identified the suspect 49% of the time
- Compared to those who had witnessed the man holding a knife who only correctly identified the target 33% of the time
- Ppts who were exposed to knife had higher levels of anxiety & were more likely to focus their attention on the weapon & not the face of the target.
What was the other study conducted by loftus & which also supports the weapon focus?
- Presented subject-witnesses with a series of slides depicting an event in a fast-food resturant
Half of subjects saw a customer point gun at cashier; other half saw him hand cashier a check
In experiment 1 eye movements were recorded while subjects viewed the slides
Results showed that subjects made more eye fixations on weapon than on check
In experiment 2 memory of subjects in the weapon condition was poorer than the memory of subjects in the check condition
These results provide the first direct empirical support for weapon focus
