Anxiety and eye witness tesitimony Flashcards
Define anxiety
A state of emotional and physical arousal which has a number of psychological and physiological effects
Outline the effects of anxiety on EWT
-events witnessed by eye witness can cause then anxiety
-sometimes anxiety seems to improve memory and at other times it makes memory less accurate/detailed
Describe the procedure of Johnson and Scott’s study
(field)
-PPT waiting in a room believing they are about to take part in lab study
-GROUP 1- low anxiety condition
overheard discussion next door. and man exited holding a pen
-GROUP 2- high anxiety condition
overheard heated argument and man exited holding a bloody knife
Describe the findings of Johnson and Scott’s study
Low anxiety condition- 49% accurately identified the man
High anxiety condition- 33% correctly identified the man
What does Johnson and Scotts study show about the effects of anxiety on EWT?
Their study shows that the more anxiety a person experiences, reduces their memory and recall of the event
What does the tunnel theory (weapon focus) suggest when explaining Johnsons’ findings?
Tunnel theory- suggests that the results are lower in group 2 because a weapon is present. The attention of the PPT gets focused on the weapon reducing the accuracy of the surroundings
What did pickel 1998 question?
If Johnsons findings are really due to anxiety of due to the unusualness of the object
Describe Pickels procedure
-he repeated the study using 4 different objects in a hairdresser
Wallet- low anxiety, usual object
Raw chicken- low anxiety, unusual object
Scissors- high anxiety, usual object
Gun- high anxiety, unusual object
-ppt watched a video of an incident in hairdressers where a man demanded money from reception
-PPT asked to select the man who was carrying each object
What were the findings of Pickels study and how do they show the effects of anxiety on EWT?
The worst recall was in the gun and raw chicken condition therefore
His study shows that the unusualness of the item is causing accuracy to decrease, not anxiety
What was the procedure of Yuile and Cutshall’s study?
-real-life witnesses of a gun shop robbery
were asked to rate how stressed they were at the time of the incident on a scale of 1-7
-asked to identify the man
What were the findings of Yuille and Cutshalls study and how do they show the effects of anxiety on EWT?
Those that reported the highest levels of stress were more accurate than those who were less stressed
This suggests anxiety improves accuracy
Give 2 ways anxiety may improve accuracy
real life study- consequences increase
fight or flight- Dilated pupils allow PPT to see more and Inc oxygen in the brain improves alertness which improves memory
Describe the Yerkes-Dodson Law
(inverted U curve)
This states that arousal (anxiety) increases performance (memory) up to a certain level and then, after a certain point, increased arousal decreases performance
-At optimum level performance is highest
How does the Yerkes-Dodson Law explain the contradictory findings of the effects of anxiety on EWT?
Johnson study- anxiety could have been high so it started to have a decreased effect on recall after the optimal level was reached
Yuille study- Witnesses anxiety could have been at optimal level hence the better recall
What was one issue with lab based and real life studies of anxiety?
They only compare high and low anxiety groups so the U theory cannot be properly tested unless there is a moderate anxiety group as well
What did parker 2006 do?
Overcame this problem by interviewing people who had been affected by destruction from a hurricane
-researchers defined anxiety in terms of the amount of damage PPT suffered to their homes
What were the results of parkers 2006 study?
There was a link between the level of recall and the amount of damage/anxiety experienced
based on the U theory the moderate anxiety group had the best recall as they’re likely experiencing optimum anxiety
