Outline and evaluate findings of research into effect of anxiety on eyewitness testimony (FULL MARKS)

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  • Created by: em
  • Created on: 04-05-14 21:46

One of the studies focusing on the effect of anxiety on eyewitness testimony is Deffenbaucher (2004) which did a meta-analysis on 18 studies. They found that anxiety has a negative impact on eyewitness testimony, however a few studies showed that it enhanced the accuracy. This is further supported by a real-life study by Christianson and Hubinette who interviewed 58 eyewitnesses of a bank robbery and found that those who were directly threatened had the best recall, even 15 months later. This suggests that anxiety increases accuracy of eyewitness testimony. Another study that supports that anxiety has a negative effect on accuracy is Loftus at al. who studied the weapons focus effect. Participants sat in a waiting room and heard an argument in another room, then saw a man walking out with either a bloody knife or a pencil in his hand. They found that among the group who saw the bloody knife less people were…

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Bobtim

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thanks but this isn't full marks, you haven't included any strengths in evaluation.

Bobtim

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nevermindd i see u included it in the first paragraph