EWT: anxiety

• Eyewitness Testimony (Johnson and Scott-grease pen/paper knife OR yuille and cutshall-gun)

  Account given by a person who witnessed an event.
• Johnson and Scott (1976)

  - participants believed they were taking place in a lab study

  - each participant heard an argument in the next room:

  - low anxiety condition= a man walked through waiting room with pen covered in grease on hands.

  - high anxiety condition= heated argument was accompanied by sound of breaking glass, man then walked through room with blood covered paper knife

  - participants were then asked to pick the man it was from 50 photos

  - 49% in low anxiety were able to identify him

  - 33% in high anxiety could identify

  limitations:

  - unethical, participants are subject to psychological harm which Johnson and Scott did by exposing them to staged fight and 'murder'

  - may test surprise not anxiety, participants may focus on weapon as they're surprised rather than scared, so focus is on unusualness not affects of anxiety
• Tunnel Theory in Johnson and Scott

  narrowed attention under stress (to the knife as its a source of danger).
• Yuille and Cutshall (1986)

  - real life gun shop owner shot thief dead

  - 21 witnesses 13 agreed to participate in the study

  - participants were interviewed 4-5months after the incident

  - accounts were compared to police interviews at time of shooting

  - witnesses rated how stressed they were at time of incident

  - witnesses were very accurate, little change after 5 months

  - same details were less accurate (colour of items, age, weight, height)

  - participants who reported highest levels of stress were more accurate (88% compared to 75% for less stressed group)

  limitation-

  - lacked control, anything could've happened to participants in meantime, effects of anxiety may be overwhelmed by other factors and impossible to assess by time participants are interviewed
• Cognitive Interview


  Technique to enhance eyewitness recall through guided memory.