The effects of anxiety on EWT

Question 1

Who explored the negative effects of anxiety

Answer 1

Johnsosn and Scott

Question 2

What were the two conditions of the weapons focus effect

Answer 2

-Hearing an ammicable conversation about equiment failure and a man comes out holding a pen
-Hearing a hostil argument and the sounds of breaking furniture and a man coming out holding a knife coverd in blood

Question 3

What was the method and findings of the experiment

Answer 3

-PP were given 50 photographs and askd to identify the man who had come into the lab
-People who witnessed the peacfull scene had better recall and more accurate recognition compared to those in the hostile situation
-pen 49% accuracy
-knife 33% accuracy

Question 4

What was the theory formed from Johnson and Scott’s investigation

Answer 4

The weapon focus effect which is when the anxiety caused by the weapon draws attention away from the mans face (tunnel theory) d

Question 5

Contradicting research negative effects of anxiety

Answer 5

Pickel 1998
argues that Johnson and Scotts study isnt measuring the effect of anxiety but rather the effect of a surprising item

Question 6

What was Pickels study

Answer 6

Pickels study involved someone at a hairdressers salon being threatened by either a …
-pair of scissors
-wallet
-handgun
-peice of raw chicken
-accuracy for the chicken and the handgun was much lower

Question 7

Supporting research negative effects of anxiety

Answer 7

Burns
-participants who saw the violent version of a crime where the boy was shot in the face had more impaired recall after the incident

Question 8

Methodological issues with the negative effects of anxiety

Answer 8

-Field study
-Lacks control of extraneous variables
-wearing headphones, discussing with other Ppt

Question 9

Research support for the positive effects of anxiety

Answer 9

Christian and Hubinette
-Conducted a survey of 110 witnesses to a genuine bank robbery -Those who were just bystanders to the crime had poorer recall then those who were directly threatened

-Anxiety triggers alertness (fight or flight) and improves memory recall

Question 10

Contradicting research (both)

Answer 10

Yerkes and Dodson law
Anxiety increases accuracy of recall to a point before anxiety continues to increase and recall decreases

Both theories are correct in their assumption but it’s degrees of anxiety which effect recall, not high or low, a moderate amount

Question 11

Individual differences negative effects

Answer 11

Research found that heightened stress had a debilitating effect on adults but had little effects on children

Anxiety has different impacts on different ages

Question 12

Who studied the positive effects of anxiety

Answer 12

Yuille and Cutshill
-Studied a real life shooting in Canada
-13 of the witnesses were interviewed 4 months after their original police interview
-They were also asked to rate their anxiety at the time

Question 13

Yuille and Cutshill s findings

Answer 13

Participants who reported the highest levels of stress had the most accurate recall