Loftus: Anxiety

Question 1

What did Loftus aim to study?

Answer 1

The effects of anxiety on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony

Question 2

What was the procedure?

Answer 2

Volunteer sample were given a time to arrive for the research, each pp had a different time so each pp was alone, they were asked to wait outside a lab, able to overhear exchanges

Question 3

What were the 2 conditions?

Answer 3

1. Pps heard a friendly discussion about equipment failure and then saw a man with greasy hands coming out holding a pen
2. Pps heard a hostile discussion followed by the sound of breaking glass and overturned furniture, a man came out holding a knife covered in blood

Question 4

What were the findings?

Answer 4

People in condition 1 were more accurate (49%) in recognising the man than the people in condition 2 (33%)

Question 5

What was the conclusion?

Answer 5

Presence of the weapon crated anxiety, causing the pps to focus on the knife this is called weapons effecr

Question 6

What are 3 evaluation points?

Answer 6

• Lacks ecological validity
• High internal validity
• Ethical issues: traumatic

Question 7

How were the postive effects of anxiety studied?

Answer 7

Survey of 110 people who had witnessed genuine bank robberies, some bystanders in the bank, others personally threatened by the robbers. Individuals interviewed and asked about emotional reactions and memory for detailed information about robbery, consistency measured by comparison

Question 8

What were the findings of the postive effects of anxiety study?

Answer 8

Victims who experienced the highest stress level recalled more accurate and detailed accounts of the event.

Question 9

What are 3 evaluation points?

Answer 9

• High ecological validity
• More generalisable
• Ethical? Reliving traumatic situation