memory - factors affecting accuracy of EWT: anxiety.

Question 1

What is meant by “eyewitness testimony”?

Answer 1

Legal term referring to an account given by people of an event they have witnessed such as accidents and crimes they have observed themselves.

Question 2

What is meant by “anxiety”?

Answer 2

State of emotional and physical arousal such as having worried thoughts and feelings of tension.

Question 3

What is meant by “yerkes-dodson law”?

Answer 3

Describes the relationship between stress and performance.

Question 4

What is anxiety?

Answer 4

• physical changes such as increased heart rate and sweating.
• normal reaction to stressful situations.
• can affect accuracy and detail of EWT.

Question 5

What experiments research anxiety and when?

Answer 5

• Johnson and Scott’s in 1976.
• Yuille and Cutshall’s in 1986.

Question 6

What was the aim of Johnson and Scott’s anxiety experiment?

Answer 6

Study effect of weapons and anxiety on the accuracy of EWT.

Question 7

What is the procedure of Johnson and Scott’s anxiety experiment?

Answer 7

1. participants were told to wait in reception area.
   
   2. no weapon condition - overheard a conversation about equipment failure. Individual let the lab walking past participants holding a pen with his hands covered in grease.
      
      3. weapon condition -overheard a heated exchange and the sound of breaking glass and crashing chairs followed by an individual running into reception area holding a bloodied letter opener. Asked to recall identity of man from set of photos.

Question 8

What are the findings of Johnson and Scott’s anxiety experiment?

Answer 8

• identified target 49% of the time when witnessing man holding a pen.
• identified target 33% of the time when witnessing man holding knife.

Question 9

What is meant by “weapon focus effect”?

Answer 9

Tendency for witnesses who observe an armed criminals to direct their attention towards the weapon so fail to encode an remember information about the perpetrator’s physical appearance accurately.

Question 10

What was the aim of Yuille and Cutshall’s anxiety experiment?

Answer 10

Study effect of weapons and anxiety on the accuracy of EWT.

Question 11

What is the procedure of Jacob’s STM experiment?

Answer 11

1. eyewitnesses obtained from real life shooting in Vancouver.
   
   2. shop owner shot thief dead.
      
      3. 21 witnesses interviewed by police.
         
         4. 13 agreed to take part in study.
            
            5. interviews held 5 months after the incident by researcher’s.
               
               6. interviews by researchers were compared to those of the police.
                  
                  7. accuracy was determined by number of details recorded in each account.
                     
                     8. also asked to rate how stressed they felt at the time of incident on a 7-point scale and asked if they have any emotional problems such as sleeplessness.

Question 12

What are the findings of Yuille and Cutshall’s anxiety experiment?

Answer 12

• accurate memories of stressful event involving weapons.
• recall accurate even after a long time and two leading questions inserted had no effect on recall accuracy.
• most stressed had an accurate recall of 88%.
• less stressed had an accurate recall of 75%.

Question 13

What does yerkes-dodson law suggest?

Answer 13

• performance increases physiological or mental arousal but only up to a certain point.
• when stress gets too high or too low performance decreases.

Question 14

What is yerkes-dodson law also known as?

Answer 14

Inverted-U model of arousal.

Question 15

What is a strength of anxiety?

Answer 15

• real life application.

Question 16

What is a weakness of anxiety?

Answer 16

• weapon focus effect is not relevant.
• ethical issues.
• lack of control in field studies.

Question 17

What is the evaluation of anxiety - real life application?

Answer 17

POINT - one strength is real life application.
EVIDENCE - Deffenbacher et al concluded from meta-analysis that anxiety levels that are low or too high negatively affect EWT accuracy.
EXPLANATION - vital for police and legal professionals to understand that level of anxiety determines accuracy of EWT when used in court.
LINK - informs criminal justice system to take into consideration effects of anxiety on EWT accuracy and ensure the right perpetrator is punished.

Question 18

What is the evaluation of anxiety - weapon focus effect is not relevant?

Answer 18

POINT - one weakness is the weapon focus effect may not be relevant.
EVIDENCE - Pickel (1998) conducted experiment using scissors, handgun, wallet and raw chicken as handheld items in hairdressing salon. Results found eyewitness accuracy was poorer in high unusualness condition such as raw chicken and handgun.
EXPLANATION - contradicts WFE as research suggests people focus on weapon as they are surprised at what they see rather than being scared due to items such as a handgun not being expected.
LINK - weakens explanation surrounding effect of anxiety on EWT as it suggests people focus on weapon as it is unusual.

Question 19

What is the evaluation of anxiety - ethical issues?

Answer 19

POINT - one weakness is the ethical issues involved as they are deceived and exposed to distressing stimuli.
EVIDENCE - Johnson and Scott’s study participants were led to believe that they were sitting in waiting room for experiment to begin when in fact it was part of the actual experiment and were exposed to a knife.
EXPLANATION - may cause psychological harm as they are not informed they would be exposed to distressing stimuli. Using participants who have already witnessed a crime or accident could avoid this risk.
LINK - questions whether the research is justified as ethical guidelines such as deception, informed consent and protection from psychological harm have been breached.

Question 20

What is the evaluation of anxiety - lack of control in field studies?

Answer 20

POINT - one weakness is the lack of control involved.
EVIDENCE - all sorts of things could have happened to eyewitnesses which could distort their memory of event such as discussions with others, accounts seen or read on media, etc.
EXPLANATION - extraneous variables may become responsible for accuracy for EWT making it difficult to establish cause and effect as we are unable to identify whether anxiety (IV) is affecting accuracy recall (DV).
LINK - affects internal validity as researchers are not able to investigate sole effect of anxiety on accuracy.

Question 21

What is the evaluation point of anxiety - real life application?

Answer 21

One strength is real life application.

Question 22

What is the evaluation evidence of anxiety - real life application?

Answer 22

Deffenbacher et al concluded from meta-analysis that anxiety levels that are low or too high negatively affect EWT accuracy.

Question 23

What is the evaluation explanation of anxiety - real life application?

Answer 23

Vital for police and legal professionals to understand that level of anxiety determines accuracy of EWT when used in court.

Question 24

What is the evaluation link of anxiety - real life application?

Answer 24

Informs criminal justice system to take into consideration effects of anxiety on EWT accuracy and ensure the right perpetrator is punished.

Question 25

What is the evaluation point of anxiety - weapon focus effect is not relevant?

Answer 25

One weakness is the weapon focus effect may not be relevant.

Question 26

What is the evaluation evidence of anxiety - weapon focus effect is not relevant?

Answer 26

• Pickel (1998) conducted experiment using scissors, handgun, wallet and raw chicken as handheld items in hairdressing salon.
• results found eyewitness accuracy was poorer in high unusualness condition such as raw chicken and handgun.

Question 27

What is the evaluation explanation of anxiety - weapon focus effect is not relevant?

Answer 27

Contradicts WFE as research suggests people focus on weapon as they are surprised at what they see rather than being scared due to items such as a handgun not being expected.

Question 28

What is the evaluation link of anxiety - weapon focus effect is not relevant?

Answer 28

Weakens explanation surrounding effect of anxiety on EWT as it suggests people focus on weapon as it is unusual.

Question 29

What is the evaluation point of anxiety - ethical issues?

Answer 29

One weakness is the ethical issues involved as they are deceived and exposed to distressing stimuli.

Question 30

What is the evaluation evidence of anxiety - ethical issues?

Answer 30

Johnson and Scott’s study participants were led to believe that they were sitting in waiting room for experiment to begin when in fact it was part of the actual experiment and were exposed to a knife.

Question 31

What is the evaluation explanation of anxiety - ethical issues?

Answer 31

• may cause psychological harm as they are not informed they would be exposed to distressing stimuli.
• using participants who have already witnessed a crime or accident could avoid this risk.

Question 32

What is the evaluation link of anxiety - ethical issues?

Answer 32

Questions whether the research is justified as ethical guidelines such as deception, informed consent and protection from psychological harm have been breached.

Question 33

What is the evaluation point of anxiety - lack of control in field studies?

Answer 33

One weakness is the lack of control involved.

Question 34

What is the evaluation evidence of anxiety - lack of control in field studies?

Answer 34

All sorts of things could have happened to eyewitnesses which could distort their memory of event such as discussions with others, accounts seen or read on media, etc.

Question 35

What is the evaluation explanation of anxiety - lack of control in field studies?

Answer 35

Extraneous variables may become responsible for accuracy for EWT making it difficult to establish cause and effect as we are unable to identify whether anxiety (IV) is affecting accuracy recall (DV).

Question 36

What is the evaluation link of anxiety - lack of control in field studies?

Answer 36

Affects internal validity as researchers are not able to investigate sole effect of anxiety on accuracy.