the effects of anxiety

what does anxiety mean ?

state of emotional and physical arousal

emotions include tension and worry

heart rate and sweatiness

what is the tunnel theory ?

anxiety narrows attention not one aspect of a scene meaning outside aspects are harder to remember 

what study focuses on the negative effect of anxiety on recall ?

Johnson and Scott (1976)

what does anxiety cause a release of ?

adrenaline (part of fight or flight response )

what does adrenaline cause ?

reduced ability to focus on important cues , recall worse

what focus did Johnson and Scott use in their study ?

weapon focus 

what was Johnson and Scott’s procedure?

• participants believed they were taking part in a lab study 

• all seated in the waiting room 

> some heard conversation in next room and a man exited room , walking past with a pen and greased hands 

> others heard argument in the next room , sound of breaking glass and a man leaving with a knife and blood on it . 

• high anxiety condition = weapon 

• low anxiety = Pen

what was Johnson and scott’s findings and conclusion ?

• findings

> participants asked to identify man from 50 photos (not specified if he was or wasn’t on there )

> 49% of participants who were in the low anxiety condition correctly identified him 

> 33% of those in high anxiety condition recalled correctly 

• conclusion 

tunnel theory of memory says people have enhanced memory for central events 

weapon focus as a result of anxiety can cause this 

what study researched the positive effects of anxiety on recall?

yuille and Cutshall (1986)

how can anxiety cause better memory ?

increased alertness - so more aware of cues

what was yuille and cutshall’s procedure?

• conducted a study of an actual shorting in a gun shop in Canada - owner shot thief 

• 21 witnesses - 13 took part in study 

• interviewed 4-5 months after shooting 

• these answers compared to original police statement at the time of shooting 

• accuracy measured by number of details reported in each account 

• witnesses rated stress levels at the time of shooting on 7 point scale and asked if they had long lasting mental effects since 

what was yuille and cutshall’s findings ?

• witnesses were very accurate in accounts

• little change in amount recalled after 5 months - some had better accuracy 

• those with highest levels of stress were 88% accurate 

• lowest levels were 75% accurate 

what did yuille and Cutshall conclude ?

anxiety doesn’t have negative effect on accuracy of memory in a real world context , may increase it

what did Yerkes and Dodson propose the relationship between emotional arousal and performance looks like ?

inverted U

what did Deffenbacher (1983) find using Yerkes-Dodson law ?

• used 21 studies of EWT , noting contradiction in the effects of anxiety 

• when witnessing crime , we become emotionally and physiologically aroused ( experience anxiety and fight of flight ) 

• lower anxiety produce lower levels of recall accuracy and becomes more accurate when anxiety increases 

• however , there is an optimum level of anxiety (point of maximum accuracy ) 

• too much arousal leads to drastic decline in recall. 

what is an issue with Yerkes and dosdon’s theory ?

cant be tested unless there is a moderate anxiety group aswell

who overcame the issue with yerkes-dodson’s theory and what did she do ?

• Janat Parker (2006)

> interviewed people affected by 1992’s Hurricane Andrew in the US 

> operationalised anxiety in terms of damage caused to participants homes 

> found link between level of recall and amount of damage/anxiety experienced

• found moderate anxiety has having optimum effect on recall

what is a limitation of Johnson and scott’s study ?

• may not have tested anxiety 

> participants may have focused on weapon because they were surprised rather than scared 

> Pickel (1998) conducted experiment using scissors, handgun , wallet or chicken and items taken into a hair salon 

> tested the combinations of high/low anxiety to high/low unusualness 

> accuracy worse in both of high unusualness conditions (chicken and handgun)

• suggest weapon focus effect due to unusualness rather than axniety/threat .