Key study: Yuillie and Cutshall (1986)

• Aim:

  To investigate the effects of anxiety on eye-witness accuracy following a real life event.
• Method:

  Interview conducted on eyewitness from a real life shooting
• Procedure:

  They conducted interviews 4 months after a shop owner shot a thief dead in Canada. They compared witnesses interview responses with the responses they gave during police interviews immediately after the event. The eyewitnesses were also asked to rate how stressed (anxious) they felt at the time of the event.
• Results:

  The eyewitnesses were very accurate in their accounts despite being interviewed 4 months later. The eyewitnesses who reported the highest levels of stress were the most accurate high stress group were 88% accurate, less stressed group were 77% accurate).
• Conclusion:

  They concluded that memory for high levels of stress/anxiety can lead to better recall of events.