anxiety

• label yerkes-dodson law

  A) performance

  B) arousal

  C) arousal

  D) performance

  E) anxiety

  F) performance

  
• weapon focus

  -weapon used to threat victim means their attention focused on it

  -results in poor eye witness testimony quality

  -presence of weapon increases anxiety levels - disrupting recall
• Loftus study (evidence of weapon focus & anxiety) - AIM

  -investigate effect of weapon focus on anxiety & memory
• Loftus study - PROCEDURE

  -Ps wait in room 'before experiment'

  -CONDITION 1: >Ps overhear low key discussion lab about equipment failure

  > man leaves lab holding pen with grease on it

  CONDITION 2: > Ps overhear hostile discussion in lab with sounds of breaking glass & crashing chairs

  > man walks out room with blood on paper knife

  -Ps given 50 photos & asked to identity man
• Loftus study - FINDINGS

  -Ps in condition 1 = 49% accurate

  -Ps in condition 2 = 33% accurate
• Loftus study - CONCLUSION

  -anxiety produced by weapon disrupted recall of Ps so were less accurate in EWT
• Loftus study weaknesses

  -one paper knife makes the situation very specific > not generalisable

  -may be surprise not anxiety
• Loftus study strengths

  -under unknown lab conditions

  -supports yerkes-dodson law

  -ecological validity

  -Ps protected from undue stress/harm
• Pickel - PROCEDURE

  -Ps watch thief enter hairdressers carrying either:

  -scissors : high threat, low surprise

  -handgun : high threat, high surprise

  -wallet : low threat, low surprise

  -whole raw chicken : low threat, high surprise
• Pickel - FINDINGS

  -identification least accurate in high surprise conditions rather than threat

  -findings support view that weapon focus effect is related to surprise rather than anxiety
• Pickel objects - Loftus (anxiety) vs Evolutionary theory (surprise)


  -Loftus = scissors & handgun

  -Evolutionary Theory = chicken & handgun