EWT and Anxiety

How will I know if I am learning? By the end of the lesson… E Will be able to define weapon focus. C Will be able to explain how anxiety can affect EWT. A Will be able to fully describe and evaluate research into the effects of anxiety on EWT.

What were your eyes most drawn to? How might this make you feel? How might this affect your performance as an eye witness?

What were your eyes most drawn to? How might this affect your performance as an eye witness? What does being Anxious feel like….? “Anxiety is an unpleasant emotional state where we fear that something bad is about to happen. People often become anxious when they are in stressful situations. This anxiety tends to be accompanied with physiological arousal (increased heart rate, shallow breathing). Due to this, much of the research in eye witness testimony is now focused on the effects of arousal.”

What were your eyes most drawn to? How might this affect your performance as an eye witness? High levels of stress made EW memory inaccurate Deffenbacher et al meta-analysis which found that high levels of stress impacted on the accuracy of EWT. High levels of stress made EW memory good Emotional arousal may enhance memory Christianson & Hubinette Questioned real victims of a bank robbery. They found that those who had actually been threatened were more accurate in their recall, compared to those who were onlookers. This continued to be true 15 months later.

What were your eyes most drawn to? How might this affect your performance as an eye witness? Task: 1)Summarise Christianson & Hubinette’s (1993) study in your notes. 2)Read Loftus et al’s study on page 18 weapon focus effect and summarise in your notes

What were your eyes most drawn to? How might this affect your performance as an eye witness? According to Loftus et al… Where would this witness be looking during the scene of a crime involving a weapon? What effect did Loftus find this had on EWT?

The weapon-focus effect “This is where in violent crimes, arousal may focus the witness on more central details of the attack (eg: weapon) than the more peripheral details (eg: what else was going on and what the perpetrator looked like).”

The weapon-focus effect Weapon Focus Incident What do they Remember?

How can we explain these contrasting findings…? Task: How would this explain the conflicting research? Deffenbacher explains differences using the YERKES-DODSON LAW (1908)

What other evidence is there which can be used for AO2? How can you evaluate the research from today’s lesson…? Lab study Artificial Internal validity External (Ecological Validity) Representativeness of the participants Ethical issues Demand characteristics Might we find something different if it was a real life event??

Does a weapon attract attention because it is unusual? Pickel (1999) found no evidence of weapon focus when eyewitnesses saw someone pointing a gun in a situation (a shooting range) in which guns are expected. Most of the research has been lab based. Validity in EWT- Real life studies have more emotional impact.

2010 An American space shuttle exploded soon after it was launched. All of the astronauts on board were killed. Crowds of people were watching, including friends and relatives of the astronauts. Six months after the explosion, a student decided to investigate the accuracy of some of the eyewitnesses’ memory of this event. Explain how anxiety might have affected eyewitness testimony of this event. Refer to psychological research in your answer. (6 marks )

Candidates must refer to research where the anxiety component is clear.Candidates might refer to the Yerkes-Dodson law which suggests moderate anxiety is associated with better recall than very high or very low anxiety. In this case friends and relatives might show worse recall than other people in the crowd. Laboratory based research has generally shown impaired recall in high anxiety conditions. Loftus’ (1979) weapon focuss, Loftus and Burns (1982). However, in a real life study Yuille and Cutshill (1986) found witnesses who had been most distressed at the time of a shooting gave the most accurate account five months later. Also Christianson and Hubinette (1993) found victims of genuine bank robberies were more accurate in their recall than bystanders. There is a range of acceptable answers to this question and marks should be given for effective use of the material. Answers which do not make explicit reference to this event should be awarded a maximum of 4 marks.

In your teams your aim is to get a complete set of correct notes without looking at your textbook or workbook and without consulting each other. Decide on an order in which each team member will have a turn. The first team member starts with the paper and writes down the first required note. They fold over their answer and pass the note to the next nominated team mate. They write down the next note and fold theirs over and pass it on…. Etc.

In your teams your aim is to get a complete set of correct notes without looking at your textbook or workbook and without consulting each other. Decide on an order in which each team member will have a turn. The first team member starts with the paper and writes down the first required note. They fold over their answer and pass the note to the next nominated team mate. They write down the next note and fold theirs over and pass it on…. Etc.

Player 1: Write down the name(s) of psychologist(s) who found that anxiety had a positive effect on EWT. Player 2 : Write down the name(s) of psychologist(s) who found that anxiety had a negative effect on EWT. Player 3: Describe the Weapon Focus Effect Player 4: Write down the name of the law which explains differences in the effect of anxiety on EWT. Player 5: Explain the Yerkes Dodson Law. Player 6: Draw a sketch of the Yerkes Dodson Graph. Player 7: Write down one evaluation of research into anxiety and EWT.

How will I know if I am learning? By the end of the lesson… E Will be able to define weapon focus. C Will be able to explain how anxiety can affect EWT. A Will be able to fully describe and evaluate research into the effects of anxiety on EWT.

EWT and Age

How will I know if I am learning? By the end of the lesson… E Will be able to define the own age bias. C Will be able to explain how age affects EWT. A Will be able to evaluate research into the effects of age on EWT.

There is lots of research into age and EWT. Sort them into research that suggests older eye witnesses are more accurate, and research that suggests younger witnesses are accurate. Summarise the findings in your table. Older EW’s are most accurateYounger EW’s are most accurate

Can you think of any methodological evaluation points of any of these findings? Hint: What about ethical issues regarding children?

Most studies show old people show poor performance on eyewitness memory tests. However, most of the research has asked old people to recognise college students, but evidence suggests people are better are recognising people their own age!

Anastasi & Rhodes (2006) used individuals from three age groups. They had to rate 24 individuals (from different age groups) for attractiveness. Later they were presented with 48 photos: 24 they had seen previously, and 24 distractors.

Young PhotosMiddle Aged Photos Older Photos Young Participants Middle Aged Participants Older Participants % of correct recognition in each age group. What do these results imply about age of the participant and age of the target?

Apparent age effects may be due to the fact that people do best when asked to identify people of their own age group. Perhaps this is because we have more contact with people who are a similar age to us. The lesser experience we have, the greater the own age bias. When we encounter people of our own age group more regularly we become better at processing those faces and therefore have better memory for them.

Summarise the Own Age Bias and supporting research in your notes.

And finally – Using Psychological research, answer the following question. How does age influence the accuracy of EWT (4 marks). Now Peer Assess your answers. Swap your answers and mark them out of 4.

How will I know if I am learning? By the end of the lesson… E Will be able to define the own age bias. C Will be able to explain how age affects EWT. A Will be able to evaluate research into the effects of age on EWT.

A case of Wrongful conviction Read the description of the crime, a man is protesting his innocence. You have been employed as a Forensic Psychologist to help the defence team with their appeal 1.Explain how the witness’ testimony might have been distorted 2.Use what you have learnt this week and last week (think about post event info, age, anxiety, weapon focus etc) 3.Use evidence from Psychological studies to support the issues you raise.

To what extent does age influence the accuracy of eyewitness accounts? (12 marks)