Anxiety effect on EWT

Question 1

Anxiety

Define

Answer 1

Fear that something unpleasant is about to happen.
Increased heart rate and breathing is often experienced

Question 2

Weapon Focus

Define

Answer 2

The Anxiety experienced with the presence of a Weapon.
Your attention will be shifted to the wepon meaning your EWT might be less accurate

Question 3

Anxiety has a negative effect on memory

Johnoson and scott (1976)

Answer 3

They arranged for participants to sit in a room while an argument went on next door.
Then the man walked through the room holding a greasy pen (condition 1- low Anxiety) and a bloody Knife (condition2- high Anxiety)

Question 4

Anxiety has a negative effect on memory

Continued

Answer 4

When asked to identify the man condition 1 had 49% accuracy and it dropped to 33% in condition two.
Recordings of eye movments in Condition Two showed they were more focused on the knife than the mans Face.

Question 5

Anxiety has a positive effect on memory

Christiensen and Hubinette (1993)

Answer 5

Interveiwed 58 people 4-15 months after witnessing a bank robbery, witnesses were either bank tellers (directly threatend= Hight Anxiety) or bystander (lower anxiety)
All recall was good (75% and higher) but the banktellers had the best recall showing high anxiety causes accurate memories

-No mention of weapons

Question 6

The Yerkes- Dodson effect

Deffenbacher (1983)

Answer 6

10 studies showed high anxiety showed better accuracy and 11 that showed the oppostie.
He claimed when Anxiety is moderate then there is better accuracy and when there is too high or too low amounts then accuracy is lower

Question 7

Evaluation

Real life vs labatory studies

Answer 7

Christeinsen and Hubinettes study was based on a real crime so had high ecological validity
Lab studies dont create the same amount of Anxeity as a real crime./

Question 8

Evaluation

Weapon focus

Answer 8

Weapon focus may result in supriese rather than anxitey.
He made a theif enter a hairdressers carrying a raw chicken (low threat high suprise) or a handgun (high threat high suprise) and they struggled to identify the theif but when they were holoding scissors (high threat low suprise) and a wallet (low threat low suprise) they were able to identify the criminal better.

Pickel (1998)

Question 9

Evaluation

Level of emotional sensitivity

Answer 9

stable personalities (show less emotional sensetivity) show an increased level of accuracy.
Whereas neurotic personalities showed less accuracy as stress increased.
Showing depending on how high the anxiety is will affect the accuracy

Bothwell (1987)