AO3 - Anxiety

• Research to support the negative effect of anxiety on the accuracy of eye-witness testimony was conducted by some psychologists. The researchers used an objective measure (heart rate) to divide participants into high and low anxiety groups. Participants took part in the London Dungeon Labrinth and were then asked to immediately recall physical details of the actor from the event. It was found that high anxiety lowered the accuracy of EWT significantly which therefore suggests that high levels of anxiety does have a negative effect on immediate eye-witness recall of a stressful event.
• Research to contradict research into the effects of anxiety on EWT comes from Christianson and Hubinette. They interviewed 58 real life witnesses of a bank robbery where some had been directly threatened and others were bystanders. It was found that recall was more than 75% accurate across all witnesses, but those who had been directly threatened had even more accurate accounts. Contradicting current research that anxiety reduces the accuracy of EWT as in real life high anxiety cases, they were able to focus on key aspects of the event and were successful in the perpetrator being caught.
• However, Christianson and Hubinette interviewed participants several months after the event and had no control over what happened to the participants in the intervening time i.e., whether participants discussed the crime. The effects of anxiety may have been overwhelmed by other factors, such as post-event discussion and it is impossible to determine the effect of anxiety on EWT at the time the participants were interviewed. Therefore, lowering the extent in which Christianson and Hubinette’s research can be used to criticise the findings that anxiety lowers the accuracy of EWT.