Browsing by Author "Fawcett, Jonathan"
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Item Looking down the barrel of a gun: what do we know about the weapon focus effect?(2016) Fawcett, Jonathan; Peace, Kristine; Greve, AndreaEyewitness memory for the perpetrator or circumstances of a crime is generally worse for scenarios involving weapons compared to those involving non-weapon objects—a pattern known for decades as the weapon focus effect. But despite ample support from laboratory experiments and recognition by experts, testimony concerning weapon focus is rarely admissible in court. The present article summarizes a selection of key findings within the weapon focus literature and considers whether the effect warrants consideration by the criminal justice system at this time. We conclude that weapon focus is sufficiently robust and uncontroversial to guide practice so long as consideration is given to the circumstances surrounding the criminal event with a particular emphasis on witness expectation.Item Of guns and geese: a meta-analytic review of the ‘weapon focus’ literature(2013) Fawcett, Jonathan; Russell, Emily; Peace, Kristine; Christie, JohnWeapon focus is frequently cited as a factor in eyewitness testimony, and is broadly defined as a weapon-related decrease in performance on subsequent tests of memory for those elements of an event or visual scene concurrent to the weapon. This effect has been attributed to either (a) physiological or emotional arousal that narrows the attentional beam (arousal/threat hypothesis), or (b) the cognitive demands inherent in processing an unusual object (e.g. weapon) that is incongruent with the schema representing the visual scene (unusual item hypothesis). Meta-analytical techniques were applied to test these theories as well as to evaluate the prospect of weapon focus in real-world criminal investigations. Our findings indicated an effect of weapon presence overall (g= 0.53) that was significantly influenced by retention interval, exposure duration, and threat but unaffected by whether the event occurred in a laboratory, simulation, or real-world environment.