Factors Affecting Accuracy of Eyewitness Testimonies: Anxiety Flashcards
what is anxiety?
- creates physiological arousal
who were the researchers involved in anxiety having a negative effect on recall?
Johnson and Scott
what did Johnson and Scott do?
- believed lab study
- sat in waiting room
- low anxiety = heard a casual conversation in the next room the saw a man walk past them carrying a pen with grease on his hands
- high anxiety = heated argument with sound of breaking glass, man walked out room, holding a knife covered in blood
what were the findings of Johnson and Scott’s research?
- ppts asked to pick out man from 50 photos
- 49% identified man with pen and grease
- 33% identified man with blood covered knife
- due to tunnel theory of memory - people have enhanced memory for central events, weapon focus
who were the researchers involved in anxiety having a positive effect on recall?
Yuille and Cutshall
what did Yuille and Cutshall do?
- conducted a study on actual shooting in gun shop Vancouver, Cananda, shop owner shot thief dead
- 21 witnesses, 13 took part in study
- interviewed 4-5 months after incident and these interviews were compared to original police interviews
- accuracy was determined by number of details reported in each account
- witnesses were asked to rate how stressed they felt at time of incident and whether they had emotional problems since then
what were in the findings of Yuille and Cutshall research?
- witnesses were very accurate in their accounts and there was little change in the amount recalled after 5 months
- some details were less accurate (e.g. recollection of age, height or colours of items)
- ppts who reported high levels of stress were most accurate (88 to 75)
- shows anxiety may enhance accuracy of EWT in real-world context
what is the curve called and what is the shape?
- Yerkes-Dodson Law
- inverted U
what are the evaluations of the EWT on anxiety?
+ evidence showing anxiety has positive effect on accuracy of recall
+ evidence showing anxiety has negative effect on accuracy of recall
- Johnson and Scott may not have tested anxiety
what did Deffenbacher do?
- reviewed 21 studies and noted contradictory findings of effect of anxiety
- used Yerkes-Dodson curve to explain
- when we witness crime we are emotionally and physiologically aroused
- ## so we experience anxiety as well as physiological changes