Accuracy of eyewitness testimony: Anxiety

Question 1

What is anxiety?

Answer 1

An unpleasant emotional state of extreme worry

Question 2

What effect does anxiety have on accuracy?

Answer 2

It decreases accuracy

Question 3

Who conducted a study on the effects of anxiety on EWT?

Answer 3

Johnson and Scott

Question 4

What is the weapon focus effect?

Answer 4

The view that a weapon in a criminal’s hand distracts attention due to the anxiety it causes

Question 5

Outline the procedure of Johnson and Scott’s study.

Answer 5

Participants sat in a waiting room where they overheard an argument in another room, and then a man ran through carrying either a greasy pen or a bloody knife. They were later asked to identify the man

Question 6

What was the high anxiety condition of Johnson and Scott’s study?

Answer 6

The bloody knife

Question 7

What was the low anxiety condition of Johnson and Scott’s study?

Answer 7

The greasy pen

Question 8

What did Johnson and Scott’s findings support?

Answer 8

The weapon focus effect

Question 9

What was the mean recall accuracy in Johnson and Scott’s high anxiety condition?

Answer 9

49%

Question 10

What was the mean recall accuracy in Johnson and Scott’s low anxiety condition?

Answer 10

33%

Question 11

What did Loftus find regarding the weapon focus effect?

Answer 11

Using eye tracking technology, they found that in the presence of a weapon, the eyewitness would usually focus on the weapon

Question 12

Who found support for anxiety having a positive effect on the accuracy of recall?

Answer 12

Christianson and Hubinette

Question 13

Who did Christianson and Hubinette interview?

Answer 13

58 real life Swedish bank robbery witnesses

Question 14

Who were the high anxiety witnesses in Christianson and Hubinette’s study?

Answer 14

Victims, such as bank tellers

Question 15

Who were the low anxiety witnesses in Christianson and Hubinette’s study?

Answer 15

Bystanders, such as customers

Question 16

How long after the robberies did Christianson and Hubinette conduct their interviews?

Answer 16

4-15 months

Question 17

What did Christianson and Hubinette find?

Answer 17

That although all witnesses showed recall accuracy of over 75%, the high anxiety individuals had the best recall

Question 18

What type of study did Deffenbacher conduct?

Answer 18

A meta-analysis

Question 19

How many studies did Deffenbacher analyse?

Answer 19

21

Question 20

What did Deffenbacher look at?

Answer 20

The effect of anxiety on EWT

Question 21

What did Deffenbacher find?

Answer 21

That half of the studies linked high anxiety to improved EWT accuracy, whereas the other half linked the opposite

Question 22

What effect did Deffenbacher suggest?

Answer 22

Yerkes-Dodson effect

Question 23

What does the Yerkes-Dodson effect suggest?

Answer 23

It proposes that EWT recall is most accurate with an intermediate level of anxiety

Question 24

What are the 4 AO3 points of the effect of anxiety on the accuracy of EWT?

Answer 24

1) Weapon focus may not be caused by anxiety
2) Methodological issues with research
3) Individual differences
4) Alternative explanation

Question 25

Who criticised the weapon focus effect?

Answer 25

Pickel

Question 26

What did Pickel suggest about the weapon focus effect?

Answer 26

She proposed that the reduced accuracy of memory recall could be due to surprise rather than anxiety

Question 27

Where did Pickel's study take place?

Answer 27

A hairdressers

Question 28

What did Pickel's participants observe?

Answer 28

A thief entering the hairdressers

Question 29

What were the 4 conditions in Pickel's study?

Answer 29

A pair of scissors (high threat, low suprise), a gun (high threat, high surprise), a wallet (low threat, low suprise) or a raw chicken (low threat, high surprise)

Question 30

What did Pickel find?

Answer 30

Identification was least accurate in the high surprise conditions

Question 31

What validity did Johnson + Scott's study lack?

Answer 31

Ecological validity

Question 32

Why does Johnson + Scott's study lack ecological validity?

Answer 32

The levels of emotional and physiological arousal would have been less in the lab study than in real life

Question 33

What is the key extraneous variable in the effect of anxiety on EWT?

Answer 33

Emotional sensitivity

Question 34

In the study looking at emotional sensitivity, what were the 2 groups?

Answer 34

Neurotic (become anxious quickly) or stable (less emotionally sensitive)

Question 35

In the study looking at emotional sensitivity, what was found about the stable participants?

Answer 35

Showed increasing levels of accuracy as stress levels increased

Question 36

In the study looking at emotional sensitivity, what was found about the neurotic participants?

Answer 36

They showed decreasing levels of accuracy as stress levels increased

Question 37

What may Deffenbacher's curve be the result of?

Answer 37

The result of some participants being highly neurotic and others being highly stable

Question 38

Who proposed an alternative explanation to Deffenbacher's curve?

Answer 38

Fazey + Hardy

Question 39

What did Fazey + Hardy propose?

Answer 39

Catastrophe theory

Question 40

What does catastrophe theory predict?

Answer 40

That when physiological arousal increases beyond the optimum level, there is sometimes a catastrophic decline due to increased mental anxiety

Question 41

Who are less likely to suffer catastrophe theory?

Answer 41

People with high self confidence