eye witness testimony

• Who conducted the experiment to see if anxiety affects the accuracy of eyewitness testimony?

  Johnson and Scott
• What was the main aim of Johnson and Scott's experiment?

  To see if anxiety affects the accuracy of eyewitness testimony and facial recognition
• What design did Johnson and Scott use in their experiment?

  Independent groups design
• What were the two conditions in Johnson and Scott's experiment?

  1. No-weapon condition: overheard a conversation about equipment failure, saw a man with a pen.
  2. Weapon condition: overheard a heated exchange, saw a man with a bloodied letter opener.
• In the no-weapon condition, what did participants see the target holding?

  A pen with his hands covered in grease
• In the weapon condition, what did participants hear before seeing the target?

  A heated exchange and the sound of breaking glass
• What percentage of participants in the no-weapon condition correctly identified the target?

  49%
• What percentage of participants in the weapon condition correctly identified the target?

  33%
• What phenomenon did Loftus claim was responsible for the reduced accuracy in eyewitness testimony in the weapon condition?

  The weapon focus effect
• How does anxiety affect eyewitness testimony according to Loftus's findings?

  It reduces accuracy by causing focus on the weapon rather than the face
• What did Yuille and Cutshall's study contradict?

  The results of Loftus and the weapon focus effect
• What type of event did Yuille and Cutshall investigate?

  A real-life shooting incident
• How many witnesses participated in Yuille and Cutshall's follow-up research interview?

  13 witnesses
• What did Yuille and Cutshall find about the accuracy of eyewitness accounts 5 months later?

  Witnesses were accurate and showed little change in their testimonies
• What did Yuille and Cutshall conclude about the effect of anxiety on eyewitness testimony?

  Anxiety had little or no effect on their subsequent memory for the event
• What is one criticism of Loftus's (Johnson and Scott's) research regarding ecological validity?

  Participants may have anticipated something happening, affecting their judgments
• What ethical guidelines were broken in Loftus's (Johnson and Scott's) research?

  Participants were deceived and not protected from harm
• Why is the exposure to a bloodied knife in Loftus's experiment a concern?

  It could cause extreme feelings of anxiety in participants
• the cognitive interview is an effective method to improve accuracy of eyewitness accounts, it involves asking open ended questions that encourage the witness to recall more information
• cognitive interviews have been found to increase the amount of detail recalled by up to 50% compared with standard questioning techniques