Positive effect on recall

• Witnessing a stressful event creates anxiety through physiological arousal within the body. The fight or flight response is triggered, increasing alertness. This may improve memory for the event as we become more aware of cues in the situation.
• Procedure


  John Yuille and Judith Cutshall (1986) conducted a study of a shooting in a gun shop in Canada, where the owner shot a thief dead. There were 21 witnesses - 13 took part in the study. They were interviewed 4-5 months after the incident and these interviews were compared to the original police interviews. Accuracy was determined by the detail in the response. The witnesses were also asked to rate how stressed they felt at the time and whether they had experienced any emotional problems since.
• Findings and conclusion


  The witnesses were very accurate in their accounts and there was little change in the amount recalled or accuracy, though some details were less accurate, such as recollection of the colour of the items and estimates of weight and height. Those who reported the highest levels of stress were most accurate (about 88% compared to 75%). This suggests that anxiety does not have a detrimental effect on the accuracy of eyewitness memory in a real-world context and may even enhance it.