accuracy of ewt - anxiety

Question 1

anxiety has a negative effect on accuracy

Answer 1

stress has a negative effect on memory as well as performance

Question 2

Key Study: Johnson and Scott (1976)

Answer 2

• Weapon focus effect - the view that a weapon in a criminals hand distract attention from other features and therefore reduces the accuracy of identification.
• procedure - Asked participants to sit in a waiting room where they heard an argument, a man then ran through with either a pen covered in grease, or a knife covered in blood. Participants were then asked to identify him.
• 49% in the low anxiety condition correctly identified him, 33% in the high anxiety condition.
• Anxiety focusses the attention away from the man’s face and onto the weapon.

Question 3

anxiety has a positive effect on accuracy

Answer 3

• it creates more memorable and enduring memories.
• evolutionary argument suggests you should remember enduring memories to avoid them again

Question 4

Christiansen and Hubinette (1993)

Answer 4

• They studied 58 real witnesses to bank robberies Sweden. Participants were either victims or bystanders. They were interviewed 4-15 moths after incident
• Research found that all witnesses showed good memories for the details of the robbery( better than 75% accurate recall)
• Those who were more anxious (the victims) had the highest recall of all.
• this test had high ecological validity

Question 5

catastrophe theory

Answer 5

• when increases in physiological arousal occur in the presence of cognitive anxiety, a sudden drop (rather than a gradual decline) in performance occurs
• inverted u theory