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When we are in a state of anxiety, we tend to focus on whatever is making us feel anxious or fearful, and we exclude other information about the situation. If a weapon is used to threaten a victim, their attention is likely to focus on it. Consequently, their recall of other information - such as the appearance of the attacker - is likely to be poor.

Clifford and Scott (1978) found that people who saw a film of a violent attack remember fewer of the 40 items of information about the event than a control group who saw a less stressful version. As witnessing a real crime is probably more stressful than taking part in an experiment, memory accuracy may well be even more affected in real-life.

However, a study by Yuille and Cutshall (1986) contradicts the importance of stress in influencing eyewitness memory. 21 witnesses observed a shooting incident in Canada outside a gun shop which one person was killed and a second seriously wounded. The incident took place on a major thoroughfare in mid-afternoon. All of the witnesses were interviewed by the investigating police, and 13 witnesses (aged 15-32 years old) agreed to a research interview 4-5 months after the event. The witnesses were also asked to rate how stressed they had felt at the time of the incident, using a 7 point scale. The eyewitness accounts provided in both the police and research interviews were analysed and compared.

The results of the study showed the witnesses were highly accurate in their accounts, and there was little change in amount or accuracy of recall after 5 months. The study also showed that stress levels did not have an effect on memory, contrary to lab findings. All participants showed showed high levels of accuracy, indicating that stress had little effect on accuracy. However, very high anxiety was linked to better accuracy. Participants who reported the highest levels of stress were most accurate (about 88% accurate compared to 75% for the less-stressed group).

	Criado por Tom Povey mais de 10 anos atrás

Misleading Information, Anxiety

Eyewitness Testimony