Factors affecting eyewitness testimony: Anxiety

• What factor affects the accuracy of eyewitness testimony mentioned in the study material?

  Anxiety
• What is the weapon focus effect?

  Distraction caused by a weapon during a crime
• What was the procedure in Johnson and Scott's study?

  • Participants believed they were in a lab study
  • Low anxiety condition: casual conversation, man with a pen
  • High anxiety condition: argument, breaking glass, man with a knife
• What did participants in the low anxiety condition see in Johnson and Scott's study?

  A man with a pen and grease on his hands
• What did participants in the high anxiety condition see in Johnson and Scott's study?

  A man with a knife covered in blood
• What were the findings of Johnson and Scott's study regarding recall?

  49% recalled the man with the pen
• What percentage of participants recalled the man with the knife in Johnson and Scott's study?

  33%
• What did Yuille and Cutshall study, and how was accuracy determined?

  • Studied a shooting incident
  • Interviewed 4 to 5 months later
  • Accuracy determined by number of details recalled
• What did Yuille and Cutshall ask witnesses about after the shooting incident?

  How stressed they felt and emotional problems
• What was the finding regarding stress and accuracy in Yuille and Cutshall's study?

  Higher stress levels correlated with accuracy
• What does the finding from Yuille and Cutshall suggest about anxiety in real-life contexts?

  Anxiety positively affects eyewitness testimony accuracy
• What is the Yerkes-Dodson law regarding emotional arousal and performance?

  • Describes the relationship between arousal and performance
  • Optimal performance occurs at moderate arousal levels
  • Too little or too much arousal can hinder performance