factors affecting the accuracy of EWT - anxiety

• what is EWT?

  ability of people to remember the details of events such as accidents or crimes that they have observed. Accuracy of EWT can be affected by factors such as misleading information or anxiety
• what is anxiety?

  a state of emotional + physical arousal, emotions include worried thoughts and feelings of tension, psychical changes include increased heart rate + sweating
• who conducted research into anxiety having a negative effect on anxiety?

  Johnson + Scott
• what was the procedure?

  - low anxiety condition: participants hear a casual conversation in the next room and saw a man carrying a pen with greasy hands

  - high anxiety condition: participants hear glass breaking and saw a man carrying a bloody knife
• what were the findings + conclusions?

  - the participants were asked to pick the man out from 50 photos

  --> LOW ANXIETY GROUP - 49% CORRECT

  --> HIGH ANXIETY GROUP - 33% CORRECT
• what does this experiment show about the tunnel theory of memory?

  tunnel theory argues people have enhanced memory for central events --> weapon focus as a result of anxiety can have this effect
• give one strength supporting the view that anxiety has a negative effect on recall accuracy

  evidence: researchers interviewed 58 witnesses to bank robberies - recall was 75% accurate across all witnesses + direct witnesses were more accurate
• give one limitation of the study by Johnson + Scott?

  may not have tested anxiety -->the reason participants might have been focused on the weapon because they were suprised rather than scared