John & Scott - Anxiety

• Loftus (1979)

  Reported the findings of Johnson and Scott (1976) who conducted an experiment to see if anxiety affects the accuracy of eyewitness testimony and facial recognition
• Experiment procedure

  1. Participants invited to laboratory

  2. Told to wait in reception area

  3. Receptionist left

  4. Participants exposed to one of two conditions:

  5. No-weapon condition: overheard conversation about equipment failure, target left holding pen

  6. Weapon condition: overheard heated exchange, target ran in holding bloodied letter opener

  7. Both groups shown 50 photos and asked to identify target
• Those who witnessed man holding pen correctly identified target 49% of the time, compared to 33% for those who witnessed man holding knife
• Weapon focus effect


  Participants exposed to weapon focused attention on weapon, not face of target, reducing accuracy
• Anxiety associated with seeing weapon


  Reduces accuracy of eyewitness testimony
• Yuille and Cutshall (1986) real life case study contradicts Loftus (1979) and weapon focus effect
• Yuille and Cutshall found 13 witnesses accurate in eyewitness accounts 5 months later, with little change in major details
• Anxiety experienced at time of real life event had little or no effect on subsequent memory