AO1 - Anxiety

• Anxiety is a strong emotional and physical state that affects EWT
• Extreme anxiety has been found to negatively affect EWT as witnesses only focus on certain aspects of the event so their recall is limited
• Johnson and Scott conducted research into the effects of anxiety on EWT
• Aim: To investigate the effects of anxiety on the accuracy of EWT
• Method: Lab experiment
• Procedure:

  • participants were placed in one of two conditions - either a high anxiety 'weapon focus' condition or low anxiety condition
  • all participants were asked to wait outside a room before the experiment began
  • participants had to identify the person who left the room from 50 photographs
• High anxiety condition: participants heard an argument and the sound of breaking glass from inside the room, and a man walked out of the room carrying a knife covered in blood
• Low anxiety condition: participants heard an argument from inside the room and a man walked out with grease on his hands and a pen
• Findings:

  • participants in the low anxiety condition correctly identified the man 49% of the time
  • participants in the high anxiety condition correctly identified the man 33% of the time
• Conclusion: Anxiety caused 'weapon focus' as the witness concentrates on the weapon not the person because of their fear of the situation, reducing accuracy of recall