Class notes
effects of anxiety on eye witness testimonies
- Course
- Institution
notes for topic of memory aqa a level psych
[Show more]
Seller
Follow
lolamcohn
Content preview
Factors affecting accuracy of eyewitness testimony: anxiety.Anxiety has a negative effect on recall (weapon focus)
Creates physical arousal in the body preventing us paying attention to important cues, so recall
is worse.
Johnson & Scott (1976)
- Participants believed they were taking part in a lab study.
- 2 conditions, one which created anxiety and one which didn’t.
Condition 1 (low anxiety): heard a casual conversation in the next room and saw a man
walk past with a pen and grease on his hands.
Condition 2 (high anxiety): overheard a heated argument, sound of breaking glass. Man
walked out the room holding a bloody knife.
- Were told to identify the man from 50 photos.
Condition 1: 49% where able to identify the man.
Condition 2: 33% where able to identify the man.
- Tunnel theory of memory argues people have enhanced memory for central events e.g.,
weapon focus because of anxiety.
Anxiety has a positive effect on recall.
Fight or flight response is triggered increasing alertness, may improve memory for the event as
we become more aware of cues in the situation.
Yuille & Cutshall (1986)
- 21 witnesses (13 took part in study) of an actual shooting in a gun shop in Canada (shop
owner shot a thief dead)
- Interviewed 4-5 months after incident and interviews were compared with original
police interviews at the time of shooting.
- Accuracy was determined by number of details.
- Witnesses were asked how stressed they felt at the time and whether they have
emotional problems since.
Findings and conclusion
- High accuracy and little change in amount recalled after 5 months (some details less
accurate)
- Participants who reported the highest levels of stress were most accurate (around 88%
compared to less stressed group 75%)
- Suggests anxiety doesn’t have a detrimental effect on accuracy of eyewitness memory in
real world context and may even enhance it.
- Supports the idea heightened anxiety draws our attention to external cues through ‘fight
or flight’ response, where such attention may have given us an evolutionarily advantage
by increasing our chances of escaping and survival.
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller lolamcohn. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $9.80. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
73091 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now