8) Eyewitness Testimony : Anxiety Flashcards
Who investigated Anxiety had a negative effect
Johnson and Scott
Who investigated Anxiety has a positive effect
Yuille and Cutshall
What were the conditions in Johnson and Scotts study
Low anxiety condition - casual convo, pen, grease
High anxiety condition - Heated argument, knife, blood
Finding of the Johnson and Scotts study
high anxiety - 33%
low anxiety - 49%
What theory did the Johnson and Scotts study establish
Tunnel theory of memory, weapon focus
What were the conditions in Yuille and Cutshall study
Gun shop owner shot theif dead, witnesses interviewed 4-5 months later, compared info recalled to first interview
Findings of the Yuille and Cutshall study
Very accurate in what was recalled
Highest stress reported - 88% accuracy, lowest 75%
What is the Yerkes-Dodson Law and what does it state about performance
Inverted U- theory
States perforance increases with stress but only to a certain point
EV of anxiety - may not be relevant to weapon focus
- Johnson and Scott’s participants may have focused on the weapon not because they were anxious but surprised
- Pickel, found accuracy in recall of the criminal was poorest when the item was unexpected
- Suggesting weapons effect is due to unusualness rather than anxiety
EV of anxiety - supporting evidence for negative effects
- A study conducted used heart rate to divide visitors to the London Dungeon’s labyrinth into low and high anxiety groups
- high anxiety participants were less accurate than low-anxiety in describing and identifying a target person
- this supports the claim that anxiety has a negative effect on immediate eyewitness recall of a stressful event
EV - supporting evidence for positive effects
- In a study witnesses were interviewed, some direct (high anxiety) some bystanders (less anxiety), they found direct victims recall was the highest and most accurate
-Suggests anxiety can actually enhance eyewitness recall
