valentine and mesout

Question 1

aim

Answer 1

to test the prediction that high psychological anxiety can cause a reduction in eyewitness recall and identification

Question 2

method

Answer 2

london dungeon visitors offered a discount to do a questionnaire. 56 provided complete data. mean age 31.0
29 female 27 male
filled in questionnaire then walked round the labyrinth.
question on the scariest person then provided a written free recall of them, the provided a cued recall e.g. sex then had to identify them from a lineup
rate confidence out of 100%

Question 3

results

Answer 3

mean anxiety was 49.0
mean heart rate was 86.9
higher results for females

Question 4

discussion

Answer 4

experience in london dungeon was successful in causing high anxiety
norm is 36.3 and mean was 49.0
only 17% of witnesses who scored above the mean state anxiety correctly identified the culprit

Question 5

evaluation

Answer 5

+ field experiment representative of real eyewitnesses
+ good controls
+ validated questionnaires and took a baseline heart rate
+ took individual differences into account
- ppts had chosen to attend lodnon dungeons so may enjoy it so lacks generalisability