Factors affecting EWT: Anxiety

Question 1

Define “anxiety”

Answer 1

An unpleasant emotional state accompanied by physiological arousal (increased heart rate, dizziness, rapid breathing, lack of concentration)

Question 2

Define “weapon focus effect”

Answer 2

A weapon creates anxiety therefore eyewitnesses focus on it so the individual pays less attention to the surrounding environment (Loftus)

Question 3

Outline a piece of research into the effect of anxiety on EWT (negative effect)

Answer 3

• Johnson and Scott study
• Aim: To investigate the effects of anxiety and the weapon focus effect on eyewitness testimonies
• Method: Lab experiment, independent groups design
• Procedure: Participants thought they were participating in a lab study, brought into a waiting room where two conditions heard the same argument: condition 1 saw man run out with greasy pen in hand, condition 2 saw man run out with bloody knife in hand
• Results: Participants asked to identify the man: Greasy pen condition 49% correctly identified, Bloody knife condition 33% correctly identified
• Conclusion: These findings support the weapon focus effect and suggest that high levels of anxiety negatively impact eyewitness testimonies

Question 4

What is a strength of the Johnson and Scott study?

Answer 4

1.) High internal validity: Lab experiment means extraneous variables were controlled, independent groups means no order effects (fatigue), easier to make conclusion on the cause of higher or lower accuracy in EWT, therefore we can confirm that the presence of a weapon has a negative effect on EWT

Question 5

What is a limitation of the Johnson and Scott study?

Answer 5

1.) Ethical issues: Deception has been used on participants and there is a lack of protection from harm - participants were not informed beforehand that they would not be in any real danger and thus they could have suffered from psychological and physical harm due to the effects of anxiety (increased heart rate, dizziness, rapid breathing), therefore the study is unethical as the BPS guidelines have been breached however the study also gives us an insight into the effects of anxiety on EWT

Question 6

Outline a piece of research into the effect of anxiety on EWT (positive effect)

Answer 6

• Yuille and Cutshall
• Aim: To investigate the effects of anxiety on EWT following a real life event
• Method: Interview conducted on witnesses from a real life shooting
• Procedure: Interviews conducted 4 months after a thief was shot dead in Canada, compared responses to the ones they gave in police interviews immediately after the event. Eyewitnesses also recorded how stressed (anxious) they felt
• Results: Despite being 4 months after the event eyewitness testimonies were still very accurate. Those with high stress were 88% accurate, less stressed were 77% accurate
• Conclusion: High levels of stress/anxiety can lead to better recall of events (EWT). Contradict weapon focus effect as the weapon did not decrease eyewitness accuracy despite high stress levels

Question 7

What is a supporting point of anxiety as a factor affecting EWT?

Answer 7

1.) Research suggesting anxiety has a positive effect (similar to Yuille and Cutshall): Christianson and Hubinette interviewed witnesses from armed robbery in Sweden over 4 to 15 months after, over 75% accuracy and those closest to the perpetrators (high stress/anxiety) had best recall, meaning anxiety has a positive effect on EWT therefore perhaps lab studies do not create genuine levels of anxiety

Question 8

What are two points suggesting anxiety is not a (valid) factor affecting EWT?

Answer 8

1.) Weapon focus caused by surprise: Pickel showed participants a video in a hairdressing salon where the low anxiety/surprise item was scissors and the high anxiety/surprise item was a raw chicken or a handgun, and found that eyewitness accuracy was poorer in the high surprise conditions, therefore weapon focus effect may be due to surprise rather than anxiety and further research may be required

2.) Individual differences: An individual’s emotional sensitivity effects how they react in stressful situations, Bothwell tested participants and labelled them ‘neurotic’ or ‘stable’ and found that ‘neurotic’ participants showed decreasing levels of accuracy as stress increased (stable pts showed opposite), meaning our personality traits can affect our accuracy in recalling events, therefore it is difficult to conclude that anxiety as a factor alone has a definite impact on the accuracy of EWT