Anxiety Flashcards
What is anxiety?
A state of emotional or physical arousal.
Why may anxiety have negative effects on recall?
Anxiety creates a physiological arousal in the body which prevents us from paying attention to important cues
What did Johnson and Scott (1976) do?
Led participants to believe they were taking part in a lab study. Participants heard an argument in the next room. Man walked out with either a pen and grease or a paper knife and blood
What were Johnson and Scott (1976)’s results
Participants then had to pick the man out of a lineup. 49% of participants who saw the man with the pen were able to identify him. 33% who saw the man with the knife were able to identify him
What is the tunnel theory?
A witnesses attention narrows to focus on the weapon because it is a source of anxiety
Why may anxiety have positive affects on recall?
The fight or flight response is triggered which increases alertness and improves memory
What did Yuille and Cutshaw (1986) do?
Used a real life shooting at a gun shop. Interviews were held 4-5 months after the event and compared with police interviews. at the time of the shooting. Witnesses were asked to rate how stressed they felt at the time.
What were Yuille and Cutshaw’s (1986) results?
There was very little change in accuracy. Those who reported higher stress levels were most accurate
Why are there contradictory findings? (Yerkes and Dodson law)
There is an optimum level of anxiety that one can reach before it has a negative effect on recall. It is in an upside down U shape
