Factors Affecting EWT - Anxiety Flashcards
(25 cards)
What is anxiety?
Anxiety is a state of emotional and physical arousal involving feelings of tension, worry, and increased heart rate.
What can anxiety do to EWT?
influence the accuracy and reliability of eyewitness memory.
What does conflicting things does research into anxiety show?
-Some studies suggest anxiety reduces accuracy.
-Others suggest anxiety improves recall due to heightened alertness.
What are the two types of effects of anxiety on EWT?
-Negative
-Positive
What is the negative effect of anxiety on EWT?
-Anxiety creates physiological arousal (e.g., increased heart rate, sweating) which can distract witnesses from paying attention to important details.
-This leads to impaired encoding of memories
What can anxiety also cause?
Weapon focus effect
What is the weapon focus effect?
witnesses focus on a threatening weapon, reducing attention to other details like the perpetrator’s face.
Johnson and Scott (1976) – Weapon Focus Effect
Aim: To test if anxiety affects eyewitness accuracy, focusing on the effect of a weapon on memory.
Procedure:
-Participants sat in a waiting room and overheard an argument.
-Low anxiety condition: A man walked through holding a pen (no weapon).
-High anxiety condition: A man walked through holding a bloody knife (weapon present).
-Later, participants had to identify the man from a set of photos.
Findings:
-Identification accuracy was 49% in the low anxiety (pen) condition.
-Identification accuracy was 33% in the high anxiety (knife) condition.
Conclusion:
-Anxiety caused by the weapon (weapon focus) narrowed attention to the weapon, reducing accuracy for other details like the face.
-This suggests anxiety reduces eyewitness accuracy.
Evaluation of Johnson and Scott’s (1976)
- Low ecological validity
+ Controlled experimental method - Weapon Focus May Be Due to Surprise, Not Anxiety
- Ethical concerns
+ Practical applications
Evaluation of Johnson and Scott’s (1976) - - Low ecological validity
P: The study used a lab-based, artificial scenario which may not reflect real-life eyewitness experiences.
E: Participants simply overheard an argument and saw a man walk through with either a pen or a knife, which is less emotionally intense than witnessing a real crime.
E: Real-life incidents involve complex emotions and stress that could affect memory differently, so findings might not generalize well to actual eyewitness situations.
Evaluation of Johnson and Scott’s (1976) - + Controlled experimental method
P: The study had well-controlled conditions manipulating only one key variable (presence of weapon).
E: Participants were randomly assigned to conditions, and everything else was kept consistent.
E: This helps establish a clear cause-and-effect relationship between anxiety (weapon presence) and memory accuracy.
Evaluation of Johnson and Scott’s (1976) - - Weapon Focus May Be Due to Surprise, Not Anxiety
P: Some argue that witnesses focus on weapons because they are unusual or surprising, not necessarily because of anxiety.
E: Pickel (1998) showed that unusual items (like a raw chicken) in a hairdresser’s video reduced recall similarly.
E: This questions whether anxiety caused the reduced accuracy or if it was just the novelty of the weapon.
Evaluation of Johnson and Scott’s (1976) - - Ethical concerns
P: The study exposed participants to a potentially stressful stimulus (a man with a bloody knife), which could cause distress.
E: The procedure might have caused anxiety in participants without their fully informed consent.
E: Ethical guidelines now require minimizing harm, so this study might not be approved today.
Evaluation of Johnson and Scott’s (1976) - + Practical applications
P: The study’s findings have important implications for the legal system.
E: Understanding the weapon focus effect has led to more cautious use of eyewitness testimony in court, especially when weapons are involved.
E: This improves the fairness of trials by highlighting factors that reduce eyewitness reliability.
What is the Positive Effect of Anxiety on EWT?
Some research suggests anxiety can improve memory by increasing arousal and alertness, which helps focus attention on the event.
What does the Yerkes-Dodson Law say?
Memory performance is linked to arousal in an inverted-U relationship:
-Moderate anxiety = optimal memory
-Very low or very high anxiety = poorer memory
Yuille and Cutshall (1986)
Aim: To investigate the effect of anxiety on eyewitness memory in a real-life setting
Procedure:
-Studied witnesses of a real shooting in a Canadian gun shop.
-13 witnesses were interviewed 4–5 months after the event.
-Asked to rate their stress level at the time of the shooting.
-Compared their eyewitness reports to their original police statements.
Findings:
-Witnesses with higher self-reported anxiety were more accurate (about 88% accuracy) than less anxious witnesses (about 75% accuracy).
-Very little forgetting occurred over the 5 months.
Conclusion:
Anxiety can enhance the accuracy of eyewitness testimony in real-life, high-stress situations.
Evaluation of Yuille and Cutshall (1986)
+ High ecological validity
+ Contradicts lab-based research
- Lack of control over extraneous variables
- Unrepresentative sample
- Issues with anxiety measurement
Evaluation of Yuille and Cutshall (1986) - High Ecological Validity
P: The study involved a real-life shooting, making it highly naturalistic.
E: Witnesses were recalling an event they had genuinely experienced under high stress in a real environment.
E: This increases the external validity of the findings, as it reflects how memory functions in actual criminal cases.
Evaluation of Yuille and Cutshall (1986) - Contradicts Lab-Based Research
P: The study challenges findings from artificial lab studies like Johnson and Scott’s.
E: Despite high anxiety, recall was very accurate (up to 88%) and stable over 5 months.
E: This suggests anxiety may enhance memory in real-life high-stakes situations, supporting a positive role of arousal in memory accuracy.
Evaluation of Yuille and Cutshall (1986) - Lack of Control Over Extraneous Variables
P: As a field study, it lacked control over variables like post-event discussion, media influence, or personal biases.
E: Witnesses may have spoken to each other or seen news reports before the 5-month follow-up.
E: This reduces internal validity, as it’s unclear whether the recall was due to memory alone or external influences.
Evaluation of Yuille and Cutshall (1986) - Unrepresentative Sample
P: Only 13 out of 21 original witnesses took part in the follow-up, which may have created sample bias.
E: Those who agreed to participate may have been more confident or accurate in their memory to begin with.
E: This limits the generalizability of the results to all eyewitnesses or stressful situations.
Evaluation of Yuille and Cutshall (1986) - Issues with Anxiety Measurement
P: Anxiety was assessed retrospectively using self-report measures.
E: Witnesses were asked to rate their stress levels months after the event.
E: This may not accurately reflect their true emotional state at the time, affecting the reliability of the data.
The Yerkes-Dodson Law Explanation?
-The inverted-U hypothesis explains contradictory findings about anxiety’s effects on memory:
-Low anxiety → insufficient arousal → poor attention and poor recall.
-Moderate anxiety → optimal arousal → enhanced focus and memory.
-High anxiety → excessive arousal → impaired cognitive functioning and poor recall.
