Factors affecting the accuracy of Eye witness Testimony: anxiety Flashcards
What is a limitation of Johnson and Scotts study?
May have tested unusualness not anxiety
-pps may have focused on item as suprised, not scared
-Pickel (1998) similar experiment found EWT for high unusalness condition (chicken+ handgun) was poorer
What is the supporting evidence for the negative effects of anxiety on recall?
Valentine and Mesout
-supports weapon focus, finding negative effects of recall
-Found anxiety clearly disrupted recall of actor in London Dungeon
What is the supporting evidence for the positive effects anxiety can have on recall?
-Christianson and Hubinette
-58 witnesses of actual bank roberries in Sweden
-witnesses either directly or indirectly involved.
Assumed those directly involved would have worse recall
-75% accurate across all witnesses, esp direct ones
How can the supporting evidence for the positive effects of anxiety be countered?
-lack of control over confounding variables
-Christianson and Hbbinettes study occurred several months after event
-No control of what happened between that time (e.g post-event discussion)