Anxiety AO1

Question 1

what is anxiety?

Answer 1

a state of emotional and physical arousal

• emotions = having worried thoughts and feelings of tension
• physical = increased heart rate and sweatiness

Question 2

how does anxiety have a negative effect on recall (weapon focus)?

Answer 2

• anxiety creates physiological arousal which prevents us from paying attention to important cues, so recall is worse
• one approach to studying the effect of anxiety and eye witness testimony is the presence of a weapon

Question 3

PROCEDURE Jhonson and Scott 1976

Answer 3

• ppts believed they were taking part in a lab study
• seated in a waiting room ppts in the low anxiety condition heard a casual conversation in the next room and then saw a man walk past them carrying a pen and with grease on his hands
• other ppts overheard a heated argument, accompanied by the sound of breaking glass = man walked out of the room with a knife covered in blood which is a high anxiety condition

Question 4

FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION Jhonson and Scott 1976

Answer 4

• the ppts later picked out the man from a set of photos
• 49% who had seen the man carrying the pen were able to identify them
• 33% of ppts who had seen the man holding a knife
• tunnel theory of memory argues that people have enhanced memory for central events
• weapon focus as a result of anxiety can have this effect