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EFFECTS OF ANXEITY ON THE ACCURACY OF EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY - Coggle Diagram
EFFECTS OF ANXEITY ON THE ACCURACY OF EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY
weapon focus
e.g. ignore the appearance of the perpetrator
a weapon might also significantly increase levels of anxiety experienced
if there is a weapon present then individuals may pay more attention to the weapon than the peripheral details
effects on an EWT = diverts their attention away from important aspects of the situation and narrows their focus of attention to the weapon
Johnson and Scott 1976
lab study, independent groups design
procedure: ppts sat in a waiting room and overheard either a ....
a) low key discussion in a lab about experiment failure, a man then emerged holding a pen with greased hands (LOW anxiety condition)
b) hostile exchange, sound of breaking glass and crashing chairs; a man then emerged holding a bloodied paperknife (HIGH anxiety condition)
ppts were then presented with 50 photographs and asked to identify the man
findings
ppts were less accurate in identifying a man who had been seen earlier holding a bloodied paperknife (33%) compared with those who had seen the same man holding a pen (49%)
conclusion = the weapon - as well as the high levels of anxiety experienced - may have distracted the ppts attention away from the appearance of the person holding it
Loftus and Burns 1982 - research support
watched a non violent short film of a crime
findings: ppts were less accurate in recall when they saw the violent short film than those who watched the non violent movie
watched a violent short film where a boy was shot in the face
this demonstrates support for Johnson and Scott 1976 as it shows that when people witness anxiety-provoking situations, they are less likely to recall the event or the perpetrator accurately
ppts were allocated to one of two conditions
Yerkes -Dodson Law
this model suggests that moderate levels of anxiety (emotional arousal) promote more accurate recall
deffenbacher 1983 = performed a meta-analysis of 21 studies examining the role of anxiety in EWT
conclusions = heightened anxiety tended to negatively affect memory for an event witnessed. moderate anxiety produces optimal performance
concluded from their research that anxiety diverts attention away from the important features of a situation
lack of ecological validity