MEMORY: FATAOET : Anxiety Flashcards
What effects does anxiety have
strong emotional and physical effects
research supports the possibilities anxiety effects can make the recall ..
better or worse
what does anxiety create in the body
physiological arousal
anxirty creating physiological effects in the body prevents us
paying attention to important cues
so recall is worse
what is one approach to studying anxiety and EWT
look at the effects of a weapon which creates anxiety (e.g knife)
what is the theory about looking at the effect of a weapon that creates anxiety
leads to focus on the weapon
reduces witnesses recall for other details of the event
What did Johnson and Williams particpants believe
they were taking part in a lab study
Where Johnson and Williams doing an experiment for or against anxiety improving recall
against
what were the two conditions for Johnson and Williams particpants
low anxiety
high anxiety
described what happened in J and W low anxiety condiiton
they heard a casual conversation in the next room and saw a man walk past them
carrying a pen with grease on his hands
described what happened in J and W HIGH anxiety condiiton
overheard a heated argument with the sound of breaking glass
then a man walked out of the room holding a knife covered in blood
In the finding s for J and W what did the participants fo
Pick out the man they saw from a selection of 50 photos
For the low anxiety group of the man holding the pen how many of them recalled the correct man
49%
in the high anxiety group who saw a man holding a knife how many of them recalled the correct amn
33%
What does the tunnel theory of memory argue
people have enhanced memory for central events
therefore weapon focus due to anxiety can have this effect
witnessing a stressful event creates
anxiety
how does witnessing a stressful event create anxiety
through physiological arousal within the body
when the flight or fight response is activated it increases
alertness
flight or flight increases alterness so this improves
memory
flight or flight increases altertness so it improves memory , but how
we become more aware of cues in the situation
who conducted a study of an actual shooting in a gun shop
Yuille and Cutshall
What did the shop owner do in Y and C study
shoot the thief dead
How many witnesses in YC take part
13/21 witnesses
when were the 13/21 witnesses that took part interviewed
4-5 months after the incident
in the Y&C study the 13 witnesses were interviewewd what were these compared to
original police interviews at the time shooting
How was accuarcy determined in the Y&C study
number of details reported in each account
In the Y&C study as well as being interviewed/in the interview what two things were witnesess asked to do
rate how stresed they felt ona 7 point scale
whether they had emotional problems since incident
e.g sleeplessness
What were the findings for the Y&C study
witnesses very accurate in their accounts
little change in amount recalled/accuracy in 5 months
Y&C study - although there was little change in amount recalled/accuracy ….
some details were less accurate
e.g colour of items
age/height/weight estimates
in the Y&C study which group was most accurate
particpant who reported the highest levels of stress
what was the accuracy for teh Y&C study of the high stress group compared to less stress
88% compared to
75% with the less stressed group
Overall what does the Y&C study suggest
anxiety doesn’t have a detrimental effect on the accuracy of EWT in real world context
but rather may enhance it
What did Yerkes and Dodson say about the inverted U shape
relationship between emotional arousal and perfomance looks like an inverted U
What did Deffenbacher review
21 studies of EWT
What did Deffenbacher note after reviewing 21 studies of EWT
he noted contradictory findings of effects of anxiety
What did Deffenbaxher use to explain the contradictorary findings
Yerkes Dodson Law
What is the Yerkes Dodson Law
inverted U theory states
performance increases with stress but only to a certain point where it decreases drastically
- Yerkes Dodson Law in depth. When we experience a crime/accident we become
emotionally and physiologically aroused
2.Yerkes Dodson Law in depth. What do we experience referring to emotionally and phsyiologically aroused
anxiety (emotional)
as well as phsyiological changes (flight or flight response)
3Yerkes Dodson Law in depth. Lower levels of anxiety/arousal produce
lower levels of recall accuracy
4Yerkes Dodson Law in depth. Memory becomes more accurate as
the level of anxiety/arousal increases
However there is an optimal level of anxiety which is
point of maximum accuracy
if EW experiences anymore arousal their recall suffers drastic decline
evaluation for FATAOEWT anxiety
limitation - johsnon and scott study may not have tested anxiety
strenght - evidence supports view anxiety has negative effects on accuarcy of recall
strength - evidence shows anixty can have positive effects on acccuracy of recall - christianson hubinette
cp - C and H interviewed pt several months after the event
Explain limitayion why study by Johson and Scott may not have tested anxiety
study by Johson and Scott may not have x anxiety
reason pt focused on weapon cause they was x @ what they saw rather than x
x conducted experiemtn usinf x x , x and x
or a x chicken as hand held items in a x salon video
scissors were high x low x
EW accuracy x in xand x (high x conditions)
this suggests weapon focus effect due to x rather than x/x therefore tells us nothing x about the effects of x on EWT
study by Johson and Scott may not have tested anxiety
reason pt focused on weapon cause they was suprised @ what they saw rather than scared
Pickel conducted experiemtn usinf hand gun , scissors and wallet or a raw chicken as hand held items in a hairdressing salon video
scissors were high anxiety low usualness
EW accuracy poorer in chicken and handgun (high unsusualness conditions)
this suggests weapon focus effect due to unusualness rather than anxiety/threat therefore tells us nothing specifically about the effects of anixety on EWT
explain strength 1 - evidence supporting view anxiety has a negative effect on recall
x supporting view that x has a x effect of recall
x and Mesout used x measure of xx to divide the pt into x and low anxiety groups
anxiety clearly x pt ability to recall details about x in London Dungeon’s x
therefore suggests high level of anxiety does have a x effect on immediate xx recall of a x event
evidence supporting view that anxiety has a negative effect of recall
Valentine and Mesout used obj measure of HR to divide the pt into high and low anxiety groups
anxiety clearly disrupted pt ability to recall details about actor in London Dungeo Labry
therefore suggests high level of anxiety does have a negative effect on immediate EW recall of a stressful event
Explain - anxiety can have +ve effects on EW recall accuracy
x and x interviewed x wintesses to bank x
those involved x/directly - x and xworkers
recall x%+ accurate across all x w direct x being most acucrate
findings x as confirm anxiety does not x accuracy of recall for EW and may even x it
hubinette and christianson interviewed 58 wintesses to bank robbery
those involved in/directly - bystanders and bankworkers
recall 75%+ accurate across all witnesses w direct w being most acucrate
findings miportant as confirm anxiety does not reduce accuracy of recall for EW and may even enhance it
Explain CP to anxiety can have +ve effects on EW recall accuracy
researchers interviewed pt x months after event
therefore had no x over what happened to their pt in the x time e.g xxx
effects of anxiety may have been x by theses other factors
and its x to assess by the time pt were interviewed
therefore possible that the lack of x over x variables
may be x for these findings, x their support
researchers interviewed pt several months after event
therefore had no control over what happened to their pt in the intervening time e.g PED
effects of anxiety may have been overwhelmed by theses other factors
and impossible to assess by the time pt were interviewed
therefore possible that the lack of control over confounding variables
may be responsible for these findings, invalidating their support
