Memory: Anxiety sample full marked essay
Outline and evaluate research into the effects of anxiety on the accuracy of
eyewitness testimony.
Anxiety is an emotional and physical state including emotions of feeling worried and feeling
tense in an anxiety-induced situation. physical changes that may occur include sweating,
shallow breathing and an increased heart rate. This state of feeling may interfere with the act of
recalling information if you are involved in eyewitness testimony. It is shown through research
that anxiety has a negative, as well as a positive effect on recall, both of these, are shown in
experiments conducted by Johnson and Scott and Yuille and Cutshall. Johnson and Scott
conducted a lab experiment where participants were separated into two conditions. the first
condition involved participants being in a low anxiety situation where they overheard a normal
conversation happening in the other room then saw a man walk out with greasy hands whilst
holding a pen. In condition two (high anxiety condition), the participants overheard a ‘heated’
argument and the sound of breaking glass then saw a man walk out covered in blood whilst
holding a bloody knife. Later on, the participants picked out the man they thought they saw from
a set of 50 photos, 49% who saw the man carrying the pen managed to identify him and 33%
who saw the man carrying the bloody knife managed to identify him. This shows that the
weapon focus effect affects the recall rate in eyewitness testimony. On the other hand, Yuille
and Cutshall looked at how anxiety is a positive effect on recall using the ‘fight or flight
response’. They conducted a study of an actual shooting in a gun shop in Vancouver, Canada.
The shop owner shot the thief dead - there were 21 witnesses at the scene, 13 of which took
part in the study. they interviewed them 4-5 months later after the incident and compared the
interview they conducted to the police interviews that happened right after the incident. The
witnesses were also asked to measure their stress levels on a 7-point scale and state whether
they have had emotional problems since the incident. Yuille and Cutshall discovered that there
was very little change in the amount they recalled comparing to the police interview although
some slight details were discovered such as age, height and weight estimates. the participants
who reported higher levels of stress were most accurate (88% compared to 75% - the less
stressed group). This shows that anxiety actually can have a positive effect on the recall rate of
a stressful situation.
A strength of the research into the positive effects of anxiety on recall is that the research conducted
shows a positive effect on how anxiety can help recall within an investigation. Evidence for this comes
from Yuille and Cutshall’s study where a ‘real-life shooting’ was conducted. This evidence shows the
reliability of this study and how it can be applied in day-to-day situations. 88% of participants who
were more stressed had a better recall rate showing that actually psychological stress and anxiety
during an anxious situation can actually improve recall. This makes the study reliable and since these
findings can be replicated in another conditioned study, therefore has external validity.
A limitation of the research into the negative effects of anxiety on recall is that the research is
unethical. Evidence for this is shown in Johnson’s and Scott’s study where the participants see a man
walk out of the room they were told to wait outside of, with a bloody knife. Findings had shown that
33% of participants were more anxious with this condition. This is a limitation because the
participants were deceived to believe this was a legitimate experiment causing significant
psychological harm to the participants. This would’ve caused the participants to have psychological
issues later on causing serious problem and effects later on outside the study. This is a limitation
because it shows the significance of ethics in an experiment and how important it is to stick to the
BPS code of ethics.
Another limitation of the research into anxiety is that Johnson and Scott may not have tested anxiety
and focused on the unusualness. Evidence for this comes from the fact that most participants focused
on the weapon because they were more surprised than scared. Pickell had conducted an experiment
Outline and evaluate research into the effects of anxiety on the accuracy of
eyewitness testimony.
Anxiety is an emotional and physical state including emotions of feeling worried and feeling
tense in an anxiety-induced situation. physical changes that may occur include sweating,
shallow breathing and an increased heart rate. This state of feeling may interfere with the act of
recalling information if you are involved in eyewitness testimony. It is shown through research
that anxiety has a negative, as well as a positive effect on recall, both of these, are shown in
experiments conducted by Johnson and Scott and Yuille and Cutshall. Johnson and Scott
conducted a lab experiment where participants were separated into two conditions. the first
condition involved participants being in a low anxiety situation where they overheard a normal
conversation happening in the other room then saw a man walk out with greasy hands whilst
holding a pen. In condition two (high anxiety condition), the participants overheard a ‘heated’
argument and the sound of breaking glass then saw a man walk out covered in blood whilst
holding a bloody knife. Later on, the participants picked out the man they thought they saw from
a set of 50 photos, 49% who saw the man carrying the pen managed to identify him and 33%
who saw the man carrying the bloody knife managed to identify him. This shows that the
weapon focus effect affects the recall rate in eyewitness testimony. On the other hand, Yuille
and Cutshall looked at how anxiety is a positive effect on recall using the ‘fight or flight
response’. They conducted a study of an actual shooting in a gun shop in Vancouver, Canada.
The shop owner shot the thief dead - there were 21 witnesses at the scene, 13 of which took
part in the study. they interviewed them 4-5 months later after the incident and compared the
interview they conducted to the police interviews that happened right after the incident. The
witnesses were also asked to measure their stress levels on a 7-point scale and state whether
they have had emotional problems since the incident. Yuille and Cutshall discovered that there
was very little change in the amount they recalled comparing to the police interview although
some slight details were discovered such as age, height and weight estimates. the participants
who reported higher levels of stress were most accurate (88% compared to 75% - the less
stressed group). This shows that anxiety actually can have a positive effect on the recall rate of
a stressful situation.
A strength of the research into the positive effects of anxiety on recall is that the research conducted
shows a positive effect on how anxiety can help recall within an investigation. Evidence for this comes
from Yuille and Cutshall’s study where a ‘real-life shooting’ was conducted. This evidence shows the
reliability of this study and how it can be applied in day-to-day situations. 88% of participants who
were more stressed had a better recall rate showing that actually psychological stress and anxiety
during an anxious situation can actually improve recall. This makes the study reliable and since these
findings can be replicated in another conditioned study, therefore has external validity.
A limitation of the research into the negative effects of anxiety on recall is that the research is
unethical. Evidence for this is shown in Johnson’s and Scott’s study where the participants see a man
walk out of the room they were told to wait outside of, with a bloody knife. Findings had shown that
33% of participants were more anxious with this condition. This is a limitation because the
participants were deceived to believe this was a legitimate experiment causing significant
psychological harm to the participants. This would’ve caused the participants to have psychological
issues later on causing serious problem and effects later on outside the study. This is a limitation
because it shows the significance of ethics in an experiment and how important it is to stick to the
BPS code of ethics.
Another limitation of the research into anxiety is that Johnson and Scott may not have tested anxiety
and focused on the unusualness. Evidence for this comes from the fact that most participants focused
on the weapon because they were more surprised than scared. Pickell had conducted an experiment
