eval

• What is one limitation of the study by Johnson and Scott?

  It may not have tested anxiety.
• Why might participants have focused on the weapon in Johnson and Scott's study?

  They may have been surprised at what they saw rather than scared.
• What items did Kerri Pickel use in her experiment?

  Scissors, a handgun, a wallet, and a raw chicken.
• In Pickel's experiment, which item was associated with high anxiety and low unusualness?


  Scissors.
• What was the result of Pickel's experiment regarding eyewitness accuracy?

  Eyewitness accuracy was significantly poorer in the high unusualness conditions.
• What does the result of Pickel's experiment suggest about the weapon focus effect?

  It is due to unusualness rather than anxiety/threat.
• What conclusion can be drawn about the effects of anxiety on eyewitness testimony (EWT) based on the findings discussed?

  It tells us nothing specifically about the effects of anxiety on EWT.
• Valentine and Mesout (2009) supporting evidence for research on weapon focus

  • found negative effects on recall
  • researchers used an objective measure (heart rate) to divide participants into high and low-anxiety groups
  • anxiety disrupted the px ability to recall details about the actor in the London Dungeon's Labyrinth
  • suggests that a high level of anxiety does have a negative effect on the immediate eyewitness recall of a stressful event
• Supporting evidence on anxiety having positive effects on recall

  • Christianson and Hübinette (1993) interviewed 58 witnesses to actual bank robberies in Sweden
  • Some witnesses were directly involved (e.g. bank workers) and some were indirectly involved (e.g. bystanders)
  • Researchers assumed that those directly involved would experience the most anxiety
  • Recall was more than 75% accurate across all witnesses
  • The direct victims (most anxious) were even more accurate
  • These findings from actual crimes confirm that anxiety does not reduce the accuracy of recall for eyewitnesses and may even enhance it
• Counterpoint - Christianson and Hübinette

  • interviewed their participants several months after the event (4 to 15 months)
  • researchers therefore had no control over what happened to their participants in the intervening time (e.g. post-event discussions)
  • effects of anxiety may have been overwhelmed by these other factors and impossible to assess by the time the participants were interviewed
  • possible that a lack of control over confounding variables may be responsible for these findings, invalidating their support
• Problems with inverted-U theory

  • ignores the fact that anxiety has many elements - cognitive, behavioural, emotional and physical
  • focuses on physical arousal
  • assumes this is the only aspect linked to EWT
  • the way we think about the stressful situation (i.e. cognitive) may also be important