13 - ewt (anxiety)

Question 1

how does anxiety creating physiological arousal impact recall?

Answer 1

it prevents us paying attention to important cues so recall is worse

Question 2

who did research on how the use of weapons can affect witnesses?

Answer 2

johnson and scott

Question 3

what was johnson and scott’s two conditions

Answer 3

high anxiety and low anxiety

Question 4

what was johnson and scott’s task?

Answer 4

led participants to believe they were taking part in a lab study experiment. in the waiting room they over heard an argument and then saw a man walking away. low anxiety, man walked away carrying a pen with grease on his hands. high anxiety, glass breaking and man walking away holding a paper knife.

Question 5

scott and johnson found that what percent of participants could identify the man holding the pen?

Answer 5

49%

Question 6

scott and johnson found that what percent of participants could identify the man holding the knife?

Answer 6

33%

Question 7

what is tunnel theory (johnson and scott)

Answer 7

when the memory is focused on the weapon and builds anxiety

Question 8

what type of effect does johnson and scott show anxiety to have on ewt?

Answer 8

negative

Question 9

yuille and cutshall show anxiety to have what type of effect on ewt?

Answer 9

positive

Question 10

anxiety of witnessing a crime can create what response?

Answer 10

fight or flight

Question 11

fight or flight caused by anxiety from witnessing a crime improve what so we become more aware of cues within the situation?

Answer 11

alertness and memory

Question 12

who conducted a study of a shooting in a gun shop in canada?

Answer 12

yuille and cutshall

Question 13

what was the real life study yuille and cutshall studied?

Answer 13

shooting in a gun shop in canada, shop owner shot a thief dead

Question 14

how many witnesses agreed to take part in yuille and cutshall’s study?

Answer 14

13

Question 15

how long after the shooting in yuille and cutshall’s study were interviews held?

Answer 15

4-5 months after

Question 16

what were the interviews in yuille and cutshall’s study compared to?

Answer 16

police interviews which happened straight after the shooting

Question 17

witnesses in yuille and cutshall’s study were judged on their accounts by what?

Answer 17

their accuracy to recall details

Question 18

witnesses in yuille and cutshall’s study had to indicate what on a scale?

Answer 18

how anxious they felt when the shooting happened

Question 19

witnesses in yuille and cutshall’s study had to report if they had what since the shooting?

Answer 19

health problems such as sleeplessness

Question 20

how accurate were the witnesses in their accounts after 5 months in yuille and cutshall’s study?

Answer 20

very accurate, very little change in their stories after the 5 months. however some details were less accurate such as height and weight

Question 21

those who reported the highest levels of stress were what percent accurate in yuille and cutshall’s study?

Answer 21

88%

Question 22

those who reported the lower levels of stress were what percent accurate in yuille and cutshall’s study?

Answer 22

75%

Question 23

who made the law showing the relationship between emotional arousal and performance, looking like an inverted U?

Answer 23

yerkes and dodson

Question 24

what is the yerkes-dodson law?

Answer 24

lower levels of anxiety result in lower levels of accuracy. there comes a point where you reach optimum levels of anxiety, after this your accuracy quickly declines

Question 25

how is pickel’s hair salon study a weakness of johnson and scott’s study?

Answer 25

the study by johnson and scott may actually test reactions to surprise and shock rather than reactions to weapons. pickel did a study in a hair salon where scissors are a normal thing to see. he tested reactions to scissors, a hand gun, a wallet and a raw chicken. the ewt was more accurate for unusual items (hand gun and chicken), showing that the weapon effect is down to its unusualness rather than anxiety or threat

Question 26

how is field experiments lacking control a weakness of anxiety and ewt?

Answer 26

researches usually interview real life eyewitnesses sometime after the event. all sorts of things will have happened since that the researchers have no control over eg. discussions with other people about the event, accounts in the media or the effects of being interviewed by the police. possible these extraneous variables may be responsible for the accuracy of recall

Question 27

how is ethical issues a weakness of johnson and scott’s study?

Answer 27

creating anxiety in participants is very risky, unethical because it may subject people to psychological harm. this is why real life studies are more beneficial, no need to create the anxiety