Eyewitness Testimony and Anxiety: Effects on Memory Recall

Introduction

Eyewitnesses are individuals who have seen events related to a crime and can provide first-hand descriptions.
The accuracy of eyewitness testimony is critical in legal proceedings.
The focus of the lecture is on how anxiety affects eyewitness testimony.

Misleading Information: Previous research has shown that misleading information (e.g., leading questions) can affect testimony accuracy.
Anxiety: This session explores how anxiety impacts the accuracy of eyewitnesses.

Fight-or-Flight Response: In stressful situations, the body responds with a heightened state of alertness, increased heart rate, and narrowed attention.
Weapons Focus: When a weapon is present, witnesses tend to focus on it, which reduces their ability to remember other details.

Study Design: Participants heard different scenarios while waiting for a study to start:
- Condition 1: Low anxiety - a man exits with a pen.
- Condition 2: High anxiety - a man exits with a knife covered in blood.
Findings:
- Condition 1: 49% correctly identified the man.
- Condition 2: Only 33% correctly identified the man.
- Conclusion: Weapons focus and high anxiety negatively affect recall.
Ethical Concerns:
- Psychological harm and deception were involved as the true nature of the study was not revealed.

Real-Life Study: Eyewitnesses to a Vancouver shooting were interviewed.
Findings:
- Witnesses who were more distressed during the incident had a 93% accuracy rate after 5 months.
- Less distressed witnesses had a 75% accuracy rate.
- Conclusion: Anxiety can improve memory recall under real-life conditions.

Study Design: Examined eyewitnesses to 22 real bank robberies.
Findings:
- High arousal did not negatively impact recall.
- Participants remembered details accurately 4-15 months later.
- Conclusion: Real-life emotional events can enhance memory retention.

Strengths
- Real-life studies provide more ecologically valid results.
- Participants experience genuine stress and anxiety.
Limitations
- Lack of control over extraneous variables, e.g., post-event discussion, proximity to the crime.
- Difficult to establish cause and effect due to these variables.

Anxiety has a complex effect on eyewitness testimony:
- Negative impact under controlled conditions.
- Potentially positive impact in real-world scenarios.
Improving Testimony: Cognitive interviews by police can be crucial in improving eyewitness accuracy.

Note: Understanding the impact of anxiety on eyewitness testimony is essential for legal processes and improving the reliability of witness accounts.