Memory: Eyewitness testimony: Anxiety

Question 1

What did Johnson and Scott find in their study?

Answer 1

Anxiety has negative effects

Question 2

Johnson and Scott study - procedure

Answer 2

pp’s sat in waiting room believing they were going to take part in a lab study
Each pp overheard argument in next room
Low and high anxiety conditions
PP asked to identify man from 5 photos

Question 3

J&S study - low anxiety condition

Answer 3

man walked through waiting room carrying a Peng with grease on hands

Question 4

J&S study - high anxiety condition

Answer 4

heated argument + sound of breaking glass

Man walked through waiting room with knife covered in blood

Question 5

J&S - findings

Answer 5

identifying man from photos:
Low-anxiety condition = 49% identified correctly
High-anxiety condition = 33%

Question 6

Tunnel theory

Answer 6

witnesses attention is on weapon (weapon focus) because source of danger and anxiety

Question 7

A03 - testing surprise not anxiety

Answer 7

Focus on weapon bc surprised what they see, not scared

Pickel used scissors, wallet & raw chicken in hair dressing salon

Question 8

A03 - Pickel findings

Answer 8

EWT accuracy is lower for high unusualness, rather than anxiety

Question 9

A03 - pickel conclusion

Answer 9

study tells us nothing specifically about effects of anxiety on EWT, therefore not valid

Question 10

A03 - ethical issues

Answer 10

may subject pp’s to psychological harm for research purposes

RL studies are beneficial: people already interviewed for witnessing events, no need to recreate it

Question 11

A03 - ethical issue conclusion

Answer 11

Ethical issues don’t challenge findings, but raise questions about conducting such research