Lesson 11 - anxiety and EWT

Question 1

what is anxiety

Answer 1

state of apprehension, uncertainty and fear resulting from a threatening situation
high anxiety = impairment of physical and psychological functioning

Question 2

what is weapon focus effect

Answer 2

presence of a weapon increases anxiety which impairs witnesses’ memory
witnesses pay attention to weapon but not criminal (selective attention)

Question 3

loftus procedure

Answer 3

experimental condition: pps overhear heated argument, sounds of furniture being thrown and broken class, man emerged carrying a letter opener in blood
control condition: pps overhear a conversation about laboratory equipment failure, man emerged with grease on his hands and carrying a pen
pps asked to identify who they had seen

Question 4

loftus findings

Answer 4

33% in experimental condition recognised person carrying letter opener
49% in control condition recognised person carrying pen

Question 5

strength of anxiety

Answer 5

(+) supported by other research - loftus and burns: put pps in a condition, one group watches a violent film where boy was short, other group watched a non-violent film of a crime. pps were less accurate in the short film which was violent

Question 6

weaknesses of anxiety

Answer 6

• lacks ecological validity: may have anticipated something was going to happen, affected accuracy of judgements, affects validity
• violated ethical guidelines: pps were deceived, not protected from psychological harm, may have been caused distress
• individual differences in how anxiety affects memory, some recall better when anxious. christianson and hubinette: 110 real life EW who witnessed a robbery, some were onlookers, some were threatened. the victims were more accurate