15. Eyewitness Testimony: Anxiety AO1 Flashcards
Who studied negative effects of anxiety on EWT
Johnson and Scott
Outline Johnson and Scott’s procedure
Participants sat in a waiting room believing they were going to take part in a lab study - each participant heard an argument in the next room
What were the two conditions in Johnson and Scott’s study
- Low-anxiety condition
- High-anxiety condition
Explain the low anxiety condition
A man walked through the waiting room carrying a pen with grease on his hands
Explain the high anxiety condition
The heated argument was accompanied by the sound of breaking glass - A man then walked through the room holding a paper knife covered in blood
What were participants later asked to do
Asked to pick the man from a set of 50 photos
What were Johnson and Scott’s findings
- 49% of participants in low anxiety identified him correctly
- 33% of participants in high anxiety identified him correctly
What is the tunnel theory of memory
Argues a witnesses attention is on the weapon - weapon focus - because it’s a source of danger and anxiety
Who studied positive effects of anxiety on EWT
Yuille and Cutshall
What was Yuille and Cutshall’s procedure?
In a real life crime a gun-shop owner shot a thief dead - participants interviewed 4-5 moths after incident - compared results to immediate poise reviews - witnesses rated how stressed they feel at the time of the incident
How many witnesses were there and how many participated in Yuille’s study
21 witnesses and 13 agreed to participate
What were Yuille and Cutshall’s findings
Witnesses were very accurate and there was little change after 5 months - some details were less accurate - e.g. Colours of items
Who was more likely to be accurate
Participants who reported highest levels of stress were most accurate (88%)
Explain the inverted U theory
Argues performance will increase with stress but only to a certain point - the relationship between performance and arousal/ stress is curvilinear rather than linear
Explain a piece of contradictory evidence against Yuille and Cutshall’s theory
Found lower levels of anxiety produce lower levels of recall accuracy - accuracy increases with anxiety up to optimal point - a drastic decline seen when eyewitness experiences more anxiety than this point
