The Effects of Anxiety on EWT

Question 1

Background of Anxiety and EWT:

Answer 1

Anxiety during stressful events often leads to poorer recall of those events.

Question 2

What was Johnson and Scott’s aim?

Answer 2

To investigate whether high levels of anxiety will affect accuracy of recall.

Question 3

What was the method of the experiments of effects of anxiety on EWT?

Answer 3

Johnson and Scott - two experimental conditions, one with weapon and one without.
Ppts asked to sit outside a laboratory where they thought they heard a GENUINE discussion between 2 people.
One condition: low anxiety (no weapon): conversation was peaceful about office equipment. Man emerged holding a pen with grease on his hands
Second condition: high anxiety (with weapon): conversation was more heated, ppts heard breaking glass, man emerged holding a knife covered in blood
- ALL ppts in both conditions then asked to identify the man from 50 photographs

Question 4

What was the first condition of the Johnson and Scott study?

Answer 4

Low anxiety (no weapon): conversation was peaceful about office equipment. Man emerged holding a pen with grease on his hands

Question 5

What was the second condition of the Johnson and Scott study?

Answer 5

High anxiety (with weapon): conversation was more heated, ppts heard breaking glass, man emerged holding a knife covered in blood

Question 6

How many photographs were the ppts given to identify the man from?

Answer 6

50

Question 7

What were the findings of investigating the effects of anxiety on EWT? (J+S)

Answer 7

Low anxiety condition - 49% accurately identified the man that emerged from the room
High anxiety condition - 33% accurately identified the man

Question 8

What is the conclusion of investigating the effects of anxiety on EWT? (J+S)

Answer 8

Due to heightened anxiety and emotional arousal - eyewitnesses have less accurate recall of crime events.
This is due to the weapon focus effect.

Question 9

What is the WEAPON FOCUS EFFECT?

Answer 9

When the weapon distracts attention away from the person holding it and other aspects of the environment.

Question 10

What was the method of the Loftus and Burns experiment?

Answer 10

• Controlled study by Loftus - ppts watched film of simulated robbery (two conditions)
  Some watched non-violent version of robbery
  Some watched violent version of robbery (boy was shot in the face)
  Both groups were then asked for the recall of the video

Question 11

What were the findings of the Loftus and Burns experiment?

Answer 11

When questioned - those who watched non-violent version recalled significantly more details of the crime than those who watched the violent version

Question 12

The independent variable of the Loftus and Burns exp:

Answer 12

High and low anxiety group

Question 13

The independent variable of the Loftus and Burns exp:

Answer 13

High and low anxiety group

Question 14

The dependent variable of the Loftus and Burns exp:

Answer 14

The accuracy of the recall for the details of the crime

Question 15

What was the conclusion of the Loftus and Burns experiment?

Answer 15

Heightened anxiety and emotional arousal due to the shock of certain events leads to disruption of memory
Thus less recall of details from violent crime scenes

Question 16

A strength of research into the effects of anxiety on EWT is that it is replicable.

Answer 16

Loftus tended to use a range of controlled experiments illustrating different examples of EWT. Because of the control over extraneous variables and the use of standardised procedures in much of Loftus’ research, it is easy to replicate. For example, in Loftus and Burns’ study all participants in one condition (e.g., high anxiety) would watch the exact same video.
SB: it allows other researches to replicate the study and test for consistent results (reliability). In fact, Loftus herself conducted a large number of studies into EWT and found the same outcome that anxiety can distort accuracy of EWT. This by using high control and a standardised procedure, Loftus has been able to produce replicable results.

Question 17

One weakness of research into anxiety on EWT is that much of the research is artificial.

Answer 17

For example, Loftus and Burns used a video of a stimulated Robbery for practical and ethical reasons. However, it is difficult to reproduce real life EWT conditions in a laboratory as real life events often take place unexpectedly and in an atmosphere of high tension. This is a problem as these differences mean the results may not apply to real life where events might be recalled differently compared to in a laboratory. Further, Foster et al. (1994) found that if participants thought they were watching a real life robbery important to a real trial their identification of the robber was much more accurate than if they did not. Therefore, research in controlled settings lacks ecological validity and thus can’t be applied to the effect of anxiety on EWT in real life. Thus the overall validity of the research decreases.

Question 18

A weakness of research into anxiety on eyewitnesses is that there is contradictory real life research.

Answer 18

Christianson and Hubinette conducted a natural experiment which found that emotional arousal may actually enhance the accuracy of memory. They questioned 110 real witnesses to 22 real bank robberies.
Witnesses who had been threatened in some way - much more accurate recall of details than those who had been onlookers and less emotionally aroused.
Weakness bc it refutes Loftus’ findings that high anxiety leads to distorted EWT.
Anxiety can enhance EWT.
Decreases validity of Loftus’ research into anxiety on EWT.

Question 19

A weakness of research into anxiety in EWT is it often breaks ethical guidelines.

Answer 19

A weakness of research into anxiety in EWT is it often breaks ethical guidelines.
The studies involve methods in which anxiety is induced in ppts, e.g showing pps a violent video - and could cause psychological harm.
Weakness bc researchers are meant to ensure the protection of ppts from harm.
Moreover, researchers also deceived ppts regarding the aim and method of the study. Weakness bc although they did gain consent, they did not gain informed consent, as they had to lie to them.
Thus the research decreases in credibility.