anxiety (weapon focus) Flashcards
what is anxiety
anxiety is a emotional and physical arousal. the emotional means worried thought’s and feeling of tension. and physical means the increase in heart rate and sweatiness.
who did a investigation on anxiety
Johnson and Scott
what was their method
participant were sat in a room where they heard an argument in and adjoining room and a man came running with a pen which had grease on it (low level of anxiety) or a man with a knife full of blood ( high level of anxiety and a weapon focus condition) and the weer then interviewed
what were the findings of the research
it was found that 49% people could identify the apron with a pen and only 33%could remember the men with a blood knife which shows weapon focus reduces the accuracy if EWT
what was the conclusion of the research
is tats a weapon focus make’s the recall less accurate of the person committing the crime.
how is a strength of the Research is that it has high control
because Johnson and Scott ca be confident that IV ( if the weapon was present to no) has affected the DV ( % of the recall of the man) and can establish value and affect. this is a strength because the results are unlikely to be affect the the confounding variable therefore increase the internal validity of the research.
how is a strength if the research is that it has practical application.
because we know EWT is not accurate and the anxiety distorts the accurate of EWT making it less accurate. this means police should take this into consideration and ask people suitable questions especially those who are really anxious. this is a strength because it has made a contribution to our legal system. there are less wrongful conviction meaning less appeals are made which saves money and time.
how is the limitation of this research is that its affected by the extraneous variables.
because it doesn’t take into consideration of people individual differences because some people are more anxious then other and some people are more likely to remember detail then others as they might me more stronger then other to deal with a situation. this is a limitation because in the research everyone is treated fairly which isn’t always fair because the recall depends on the participants on how strongly they can deal with the situation.
