Factors affecting the accuracy of EWT- Anxiety

what is anxiety

a state of emotional and physical arousal involving fear and worry

what does high anxiety cause

physiological arousal: heart rate increases, adrenaline levels rise, causes distraction and narrowed attention meaning less info is encoded about other key details- less accurate recall. may lead to increased alertness and stronger emotional encoding making memories more vivid- more accurate recall

Johnson and Scott Weapon Focus Effect

AIM: looking at the effect of weapons on the recall of the witness. PROCEDURE: led participants who thought they were taking part in a lab study. While waiting they hear a staged argument. low anxiety: see same man walk out with a greasy pen. High anxiety: see same man emerge with a bloody knife. FINDINGS: from 50 photographs. Low anxiety: 49% correctly identified. High anxiety: 33% correctly identified.CONCLUSION: tunnel theory of memory argues witness attention narrows on weapon due to anxiety, distracted from recalling other key detailes

real-life studies show anxiety can enhance accuracy

high ecological validity of real-world studies. Christianson (1993) interviewed 110 witnesses to 22 real bank robberies. found that victims-who experienced highest -anxiety gave more accurate and detailed accounts than bystanders. 15 months later, recall remained accurate suggesting IRL situations anxiety may enhance memory. results support the idea that anxiety may even improve recall if event is personally meaningful and memorable

Yerkes- Dodson law explains mixed findings

explains why anxiety sometimes improves or worsens memory. memory performance improves with moderate anxiety but declines if anxiety is too low/high, explaining why Loftus & Burns found impaired recall under high anxiety whilst Yuille & Cutshall found that real life witnesses of a real shooting gave accurate recall months later. Yerkes-Dodson law gives balanced explanation for mixed findings in anxiety and EWT research, showing that the effect of anxiety depends on its intensity

high anxiety can impair EWT accuracy

consistent evidence that high anxiety can reduce memory accuracy. Deffenbacher's meta-analysis found that elevated anxiety is often linked to poorer recall in eyewitnesses. supported by Loftus & Burns (1982) found that peeps who watched a violent film involving a shooting remembered less than those who watched a non-violent version. suggests that extreme anxiety can disrupt cognitive processes like attention and memory encoding, making it harder to recall accurate info, supports idea that intense anxiety can reduce the accuracy of EWT