Factors affecting EWT: Anxiety

• What is the positive effect of anxiety on EWT?

  the fight or flight is triggered which increases our alertness and improve memory because we become aware of the cues
• What is the negative effect of anxiety on EWT?

  anxiety creates physiological arousal in the body which prevents us paying attention to important cues
• How does the tunnel theory support the negative effect of anxiety on EWT?


  Suggests that the focus on the weapon will produce anxiety and impact recall
• What happened in the low-anxiety condition in Johnson and Scott’s experiment? 


  heard an heated argument with a man walking out carrying a pen and grease on his hands
• What happened in the high-anxiety condition in Johnson and Scott’s experiment? 


  heard a heated argument and glass breaking and a man walking out with a paper knife and blood on hands
• What were the findings of Johnson and Scotts experiment?

  49% of the PPs in the ‘low-anxiety’ group could recognise the man whereas only 33% of the PPs in the ‘high-anxiety’ group could recognise the man
• What did Yuille and Cutshall do to provide research support for the positive effect of anxiety?

  interviewed witnesses of a real-life crime 4-5 months after and compared to the original police interviews
• How did Yuille and Cutshall conduct their study?

  • asked witnesses to rate their levels of stress on a 7 point scale
  • found witnesses were very accurate in their accounts and there was little change in the amount of accuracy there is
• What were the findings of Yuille and Cutshall experiment?

  PPs with highest level of stress were most accurate - 88%
• What is the weapon-focus effect?

  in violent crimes, arousal may focus on central details such as weapons instead of peripheral details such as what someone looked like
• What is the contradictory evidence for anxiety?

  Yerkes-Dodson model shows some stress is good as it provides optimal performance whereas if a person is lead to distress then performance is low