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Evaluation. - Coggle Diagram
Evaluation.
Johnson and Scott study.
- A criticism of is that numerous ethical guidelines were broken.
- The participants were deceived about the nature of the experiment and not protected from harm.
- They exposed some of the participants to a man holding a bloodied knife, which could have caused extreme feelings of anxiety.
- This is an issue as these participants may have left the experiment feeling exceptionally stressed and anxious, especially if they, or someone they knew, had been involved in knife crime.
Strength.
Point: Further research from Deffenbacher et al (1983) supports the suggestion that anxiety affects the accuracy of EWT.
Evidence: Deffenbacher et al concluded from meta-analysis that anxiety levels that are too low or too high negatively affect EWT accuracy suggesting that eyewitness testimony is impaired if a person becomes too anxious.
Evaluation: This is positive because it is further evidence that high levels of anxiety can result in a false eyewitness testimony, as found in Loftus’ research, supporting the theory that anxiety affects EWT accuracy.
Weaknesses.
Point: Research has contradicted Loftus’ study suggesting that anxiety can improve the accuracy of EWT.
Evidence: For example, Christianson and Hubinette (1993) studied the recall of witnesses to real bank robberies. They found that increased arousal led to improvements in the accuracy of recall.
Evaluation: This is a weakness as it goes against Loftus’ finding that anxiety reduces EWT accuracy and suggests that anxiety-creating situations don’t always divert attention from important features of the situation.
Pickel 1998.
- He claimed that the reduced accuracy of identification due to the weapon focus effect could be due to suppose rather than anxiety.
- She arranged for participants to watch a thief enter a hairdressing salon carrying scissors, handgun, wallet and a raw chicken.
The identification was least accurate in the high surpose conditions rather than high threat.
This supports the view that the weapon focus effect is related to surprise rather than anxiety.
Johnson and Scott study.
- Johnson and Scott’s research has been criticized for lacking ecological validity.
- Although the participants were waiting in the reception area outside the laboratory, they may have anticipated that something was going to happen, which could have affected the accuracy of their judgements.
- Furthermore, the results from real life case studies refute the findings of Loftus and suggest that her results do not represent real-life cases of extreme anxiety.
Inverted U.
- Yerkes and Rodsons inverted 'U' is too simplistic.
- This because their curve only focuses on physiological arousal and not any other factors.
- Plus, anxiety is difficult to measure.
- It does not look at anxiety as a whole and lacks reliability as you are unable to actually measure it.
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