EWT - anxiety

• The physical changes that accompany anxiety are : increased heart rate, sweatiness
• What did Johnson and Scott find out about anxiety in EWT?

  • Participants watched a video of the same crime but in different perspectives, discussing it with other participants before doing a recall test
  • 49% in the low anxiety condition were able to pick out the man from a set of 50 photos
  • 33% in the high anxiety condition were able to pick out the man from a set of 50 photos
  • This is known as the weapon focus effect
• What did Yuille and Cutshall find out about anxiety in EWT?

  • Shooting in gun shop in Canada, 13/21 witnesses agreed to be participants
  • Interviews conducted 4-5 months after incident, these were compared to initial interviews
  • Accuracy determined by no. of detail reported
  • Asked to rate stress levels and emotional wellbeing since incident
  • Witnesses very accurate with accounts, little change
  • Participants who reported the highest levels of stress were the most accurate (88%) when compared to the low stress group (75%)
• What is the Yerkes-Dodson law?

  Deffenbacher:

  • Lower levels of anxiety produce lower levels of recall accuracy
  • There is an optimal amount of anxiety which will have maximum accuracy
  • If anxiety is higher than this, then accuracy will decline
  • The relationship between this looks like an inverted U (on a graph)
• Give one strength and three limitations of studies in EWT - anxiety

  STRENGTH:

  • Field studies are high in ecological validity

  LIMITATIONS:

  • Field studies lack control - reducing reliability
  • There are ethical issues such as psychological harm
  • Inverted U explanation is too simplistic, only accounts for the physical part of anxiety (doesnt include cognitive, behavioural, emotional)