Eyewitness - Anxiety (AO1) Flashcards
How does anxiety have a Positive effect on EWT?
- when we are in a stressful situation, this triggers our fight-or-flight response (the sympathetic nervous system)
- our pupils dilate so that we can take in our surroundings, this could improve our memory as we are able to pay attention to more cues in the environment
Who researched the Positive effects of anxiety on EWT?
Yuille & Cutshall (1986)
What was the Procedure of Y & C’s research?
- natural experiment of a real-life shooting in a gun shop in Canada
- Y & C held interviews w 13 of the witnesses 4-5 months after the incident and compared these to police interviews
- witnesses were also asked to rate how stressed they were at the time of the incident
- they were also asked 2 misleading questions (same as leading)
What were the Findings of Y & C’s research?
- witnesses were very accurate in their testimonies, with little change over the course of 5 months
- ppts who reported highest levels of stress were more accurate than less stressed group (88% compared to 75%)
- ppts were not affected by leading questions (all)
What is the Yerkes-Dodson Law?
the Y-D law describes the relationship between emotional arousal (anxiety) and performance
- very high or very low anxiety = poor performance
- medium amount of anxiety = best recall/ EWT/ performance
How does anxiety have a Negative effect on EWT?
- anxiety creates physiological arousal in the body which means we can have difficulty focusing on important cues, which makes recall worse e.g. if a weapon is involved in the crime
- referred to as tunnel theory or weapon focus effect - where witnesses’ attention often narrows to focus on a weapon bc that is the main source of their anxiety
Who researched the Negative effects of anxiety on EWT?
Johnson & Scott (1976)
What was the Procedure of J & S’s research?
- J & S made ppts believe that they were taking part in a different lab study - but whilst the ppts sat in the waiting room they observed their reaction to an event going on around them
- ppts heard an argument in the next room and then 1 of 2 conditions happened
What were the 2 Conditions of J&S’s experiment?
Condition 1:
LOW anxiety - man walked through the waiting area, carrying a pen and with grease on his hands
Condition 2:
HIGH anxiety - man walked through the waiting area, holding a letter opener covered in blood, also heard glass breaking during the earlier argument
What were the Findings of J & S’s research?
ppts had to pick the man out of a set of 50 photos
- 49% in low anxiety condition correctly identified the man
vs.
- 33% in high anxiety correctly identified the man
= evidence of tunnel theory/ weapon focus effect
