Anxiety eval memory

Question 1

Problems with inverted-U theory

Answer 1

Research findings are complex because they seem to show two contradictory outcomes – anxiety can both improve EWT and worsen it. As we have seen, the inverted-U explanation appears to provide a reasonable solution to this contradiction.
However, the inverted-U explanation focuses only on the physiological arousal involved in anxiety. It says that it is the physical changes to the body and brain during stressful incidents that affect the accuracy of EWT. However, anxiety is more complex than this, and has many components which the theory ignores. A good example is the cognitive element. The way that we think about the stressful incident can have a major effect on what we remember about it. For example anxious thoughts (‘worries’) could mean that the inverted-U graph does not have a gradual ‘tail-off’ in EWT performance but more of a cliff edge instead.
This suggests that the theory is too simplistic because the way we think about stressful events could have a different effect on EWT compared with that predicted by physical arousal.

Question 2

Unusualness not anxiety

Answer 2

One limitation of the study by Johnson and Scott (facing page)-is that it may not have tested anxiety.
The reason participants focused on the weapon may be because they were surprised at what they saw rather than scared. Kerri Pickel (1998) conducted an experiment using scissors, a handgun, a wallet or a raw chicken as the hand-held items in a hairdressing salon video (where scissors would be high anxiety, low unusualness). Eyewitness accuracy was significantly poorer in the high unusualness conditions (chicken and handgun).
This suggests that the weapon focus effect is due to unusualness rather than anxiety/threat alri therefore tells us nothing specifically about the effects of anxiety on EWT.

Question 3

Support for negative effects

Answer 3

One strenéth is evidence supporting the view that anxiety has a negative effect on the accuracy of recall.
The study by Tim Valentine and Jan Mesout (2009, see right) supports the research on weapon focus, finding negative effects on recall. The researchers used an objective measure to divide participants (heart rate ) into high- and low-anxiety groups. In this study anxiety clearly disrupted the participants’ ability to recall details about the actor in the London Dungeon’s Labyrinth.
This suggests that a high level of anxiety does have a negative effect on the immediate eyewitness recall of a stressful event.

Question 4

Support for positive effects

Answer 4

Another strength is evidence showing that anxiety can have positive effects on the accuracy of recall.
Sven-Ake Christianson and Birgitta Hübinette (1993) interviewed 58 witnesses to actual bank robberies in Sweden. Some of the witnesses were directly involved (e.g. bank workers) and some were indirectly involved (e.g. bystanders). The researchers assumed that those directly involved would experience the most anxiety. It was found that recall was more than 75% accurate across all witnesses. The direct victims (most anxious) were even more accurate.
These findings from actual crimes confirm that anxiety does not reduce the accuracy of recall for eyewitnesses and may even enhance it.

Question 5

Counterpoint

Answer 5

Christianson and Hübinette interviewed their participants several months after the event (four to 15 months). The researchers therefore had no control over what happened to their participants in the intervening time (e.g. post-event discussions). The effects of anxiety may have been overwhelmed by these other factors and impossible to assess by the time the participants were interviewed.
Therefore it is possible that a lack of control over confounding variables may be responsible for these findings, invalidating their support