Trait-anxiety, environmental stressors and working memory: relevance for accuracy in eyewitness testimony

Trait anxiety is defined as a relatively stable personality trait characterised by a tendency to perceive stimuli as threatening and respond to them with a certain degree of state anxiety. This construct has been associated to cognitive, behavioural (avoidance and escape behaviours), and physiological (hyperarousal) components, but only cognitive correlates have been better documented. While an attentional bias to threat has not been consistently demonstrated in research, a reduced working memory storage and manipulation capacity, as well as an impairment of the central executive, have been found in individuals high in trait anxiety. These cognitive processes are used in a variety of tasks in real life, including eyewitness testimony. However, research on the relation between trait anxiety and eyewitness testimony accuracy has provided mixed results such as that trait anxiety can lead to both more and less false memories and correct facial identifications. Thus, more research must be conducted to draw firm conclusions. This type of research is essential given that eyewitness testimony is persistently relied upon in the criminal justice system.