Factors Affecting the Accuracy of Eyewitness Testimony: Anxiety (AQA A-Level Psychology): Flashcards

Unpleasant emotional state with heightened arousal

Inverted-U: moderate anxiety enhances memory, high impairs

Enhances memory by improving attention & detail processing

Anxiety blocks traumatic memories as emotional protection

Witnesses focus on weapon, not face; impairs recall

Heightened anxiety generally reduced witness memory reliability

Increased emotional arousal improved recall accuracy

Better recognition of nurse than researcher (anxiety enhanced)

High anxiety witnesses showed surprisingly accurate recall

Mixed - some show impairment, others show improvement