Factors affecting accuracy of EWT: Anxiety Flashcards
anxiety
unpleasant emotional state where we fear something bad is going to happen
does anxiety make EW’s recall better or worse
It is not clear whether anxiety makes EW’s recall better or worse. Research supports both possibilities.
who researched that anxiety has negative effect on recall
Johnson and Scott - weapon focus effect
Johnson and Scott
Anxiety creates physiological arousal in the body which prevents us paying attention to important cues, so recall is worse.
P’s asked to wait outside the lab and ‘overheard’ an exchange
In low anxiety condition – heard a casual conversation, then saw man walk past them carrying a pen with grease on his hands
In high anxiety condition – heard a heated argument and sound of glass breaking, then saw man walk past them holding a knife covered in blood.
P’s later picked man out of set of 50 photos, 49% who saw man holding pen were able to recall, whereas 39% who saw man holding knife were able to recall.
The tunnel theory of memory argues that people have enhanced memory for central events. Weapon focus as a result of anxiety can have this effect, reducing accuracy for other details.
weapon focus effect
presence of weapon creates anxiety leading witnesses to focus on weapon reducing a witnesses recall for other details of the event.
who researched that anxiety has a positive effect on recall
Yuille and Cutshall (1986)
Yuille and Cutshall
Anxiety creates physiological arousals in the body which triggers flight of fight response, increasing alertness.
The p’s were 13 witnesses of real life shooting. They were interviewed 4-5 months after incident and these interviews were compared with original police interviews at the time of the shooting. Witnesses were also asked to rate how stressed they felt at time of the incident and whether they’ve had any emotional problems since the event.
Interviews showed that months later accounts were accurate, those who reported highest levels of stress were most accurate (88% compared to 75% for less stressed group). Suggests anxiety doesn’t have detrimental effect on accuracy of EW’s memory in a real-world context.
Explaining contradictory findings
Used Yerkes-Dodson law (1908) to explain the findings. Lower levels of anxiety produce lower levels of recall accuracy, and then memory becomes more accurate as levels of anxiety increases. However there is an optimal point, and after this point recall suffers a drastic decline. This is known as ‘inverted U’ theory
Evaluation of anxiety as a factor affecting accuracy of EWT (brief)
strength - evidence supporting negative effect
strength - evidence supporting positive effect, confounding variables
weakness - anxiety might not be relevant
strengths of anxiety as a factor affecting accuracy of EWT
there’s evidence supporting view that anxiety has negative effect on accuracy of recall. Valentine and Mesout supports research on weapon focus. Used an objective measure (heart rate) to divide p’s into high and low anxiety groups. In the study, anxiety clearly disrupted p’s ability to recall details about actor in London Dungeon. Suggests that a high level of anxiety does have a negative effect on EW recall of stressful event. Increases validity of weapon focus theory
there’s evidence supporting view that anxiety can have positive effects on accuracy of recall. Christianson and Hubinette interviewed 58 witnesses of actual bank robbery and found recall was more than 75% accurate. Direct victims were even more accurate. These findings from actual crimes confirm that anxiety doesn’t reduce accuracy of recall for EW’s. HOWEVER, they interviewed p’s several months after event so had no control over what happened to p’s in that time. E.g. post event discussion. Therefore, it is possible that a lack of control over confounding variables may be responsible for these findings, invalidating their support
weaknesses of anxiety as a factor affecting accuracy of EWT
anxiety may not be relevant to weapon focus. Pickel found accuracy in identifying ‘criminal’ was worst when object in their hand was unexpected e.g. raw chicken. Suggests that weapon focus effect is due to unusualness rather than anxiety and therefore tells us nothing specifically about the effects of anxiety on EWT.
