AO3

• Strength - The study by Yuille and Cutshall was done in the context of real crime = high ecological validity
• Weakness - The effect may not be caused by anxiety – Pickel (1998) found participants were less accurate in identifying a thief in a surprise condition rather than the high threat conditions = weapon focus effect may be the result of surprise, rather than anxiety
• Individual differences may act as an extraneous variable (emotional sensitivity) - Bothwell– tested for neuroticism. Those who were ’stable’ had increased accuracy as stress levels rose, it was the opposite for neurotic = personality characteristics can affect the accuracy of EWT
• Yerkes-Dodson Effect (Deffenbacher) What can explain the contradiction in results? Occasions when anxiety/arousal is moderate, EWT is enhanced. However when anxiety is too extreme, then accuracy will be reduced