Much research has been done into the effect of anxiety on eyewitness testimony. Loftus 1979 looked at the weapon focus effect to see if eyewitness testimony is affected by anxiety. An independent groups design was used. Also participants sat in a room next to a lab. One group heard a quiet discussion on equipment failure and a man with a pen proceeded to make a comment.
An eyewitness memory relates to a person's episodic memory for a crime or other dramatic event that he or she has witnessed. Eyewitness testimony is often relied upon in the judicial system. However, the accuracy of eyewitness memories is sometimes questioned because there are many factors that can act during encoding and retrieval of the witnessed event which may adversely affect the creation and maintenance of the memory for the event. Various scholars for instance, Feldman (2009), have found evidence to suggest that eyewitness memory is volatile. It has long been speculated that mistaken eyewitness identification plays a major role in the wrongful conviction of innocent individuals.
It can depend on the investigation being held, the place and the difficulty of being able to solve the case. The investigator mindset is to find out why the crime happen, how it could’ve been prevented, and also investigate all the evidence that was found. These concepts can associate with the optimal mindset of an investigator manifest by how much the investigator knows, how much training the investigators has, and the experience that the investigator already has. The more training and
This research suggests that if a person is threatened which will increase stress and anxiety levels, they are more likely to remember. Conversely a meta-analysis of 18 studies into the effects of anxiety on witness recall concluded that high levels of stress negatively impact on recall. The weapon-focus effect (Johnson and Scott 1976) suggests that the presence of a weapon can diminish accuracy in recall. In the experiment participants sat outside an experimental psychology lab, waiting to take part in an experiment. A receptionist was in the room for a short while and made an excuse to leave.
This is an example of how interviewing suspects can lead to unreliable information because this interview can lead to false or real confessions dependent on the individual. Therefore, if the interview is repeated with different individuals it will obtain different information and thus different results. If it cannot be repeated and gain the same results then the information is deemed unreliable. However, interviewing suspects can result in reliable information being gained as it delivers consistent results. For example, in Inbaus nine steps of interrogation they are explicit instructions which are standardised for everyone, e.g reinforce sincerity follows the interruption of any attempt of denial which follows allowing the suspect a chance to shift blame.
The Psychology behind Abnormal Psychology and Antisocial Personality Disorder Psychology 303 Professor Matheson May 16, 2010 Abstract The field of abnormal psychology researches the nature of psychopathology, including theories and research regarding its causes, and in turn, this data is applied in clinical psychology to treat patients with psychological disorders. Whereas numerous disorders vacillate as far as existence and intensity of symptoms, personality disorders characteristically stay comparatively constant. Personality disorders generate a maladaptive pattern of beliefs, feelings, thoughts, and behaviors that can produce severe damage to relationships and other areas of life. Even though descriptions, evaluations, and classifications of mental disorders can differ, guideline criterion is listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association, DSM -IV-TR. The precise types of personality disorders are categorized and grouped into three clusters on the basis of analogous characteristics and symptoms.
Describe and explain the research into the effects of anxiety on eye witness testimonies (12 marks) There has been a lot research into the effects of anxiety on eye witness testimony. One of these is a study conducted by Loftus (1979). In the study participant were asked to sit outside a laboratory where they thought they were hearing genuine exchanges between people in the laboratory. In one condition, they heard an amicable discussion about equipment failure. A man with greasy hands then came out of the laboratory holding a pen.
Can we make people believe things that did not happen? Can we change their memories? This paper will review research regarding the influence of misinformation on memories. There are different variables which determine how great the misinformation effect is. These variables are timing, repetition, and framing.
Psychology Qualitative research collects information that is not in numerical form. For example, diary accounts, open-ended questionnaires, unstructured interviews and unstructured observations. Qualitative data is usually descriptive data and is harder to analyze than quantitative data. Qualitative research is useful for studies at the individual level and to find out the ways in which people think or feel. (Example case studies) Analysis of qualitative data is difficult and requires accurate description of participant responses, also data and great care must be taken when doing so, for example; looking for symptoms of mental illness.
Discuss the validity and reliability of diagnosis Certain behaviours and ways of thinking or feeling are considered to be abnormal and dysfunctional and it is possible that an individual who displays enough of these differences for long enough may be found to fit the criteria for any one of more than 400 different mental disorders listed in classifications systems such as the DSM IV(TR) published by the American Psychiatric Association, the ICD 10 published by the World Health Organisation or one of the other national classification systems such as the CCMD-3 in China. Diagnosis is important because it means that a person may then be provided with a treatment plan or at least given support in terms of how to manage their symptoms more effectively and the additional information that comes with a diagnosis may help the individual and/or family to know that they are not alone and that there are other people with the same condition and possibly support groups and so on. However, many argue that the diagnosis of mental disorders is neither valid nor reliable and people with mental disorders too often are misdiagnosed or not diagnosed at all. For example, bipolar patients, who suffer extreme mood swings from depression to mania, often go years without discovering their true illness. In a 2002 survey by the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, 70 percent of bipolar people said their doctors misdiagnosed them at least once, most often with depression or schizophrenia.