Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Sex differences, weapon focus, and eyewitness reliability

J I Shaw1, P Skolnick

  • 1Department of Psychology, California State University, Northridge 91330.

The Journal of Social Psychology
|August 1, 1994
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

PYROLYSIS-GAS-LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF CHLOROPHYCEAN AND RHODOPHYCEAN ALGAE(1).

Journal of phycology·2016
Same author

Selective anxiolysis produced by ocinaplon, a GABA(A) receptor modulator.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2005
Same author

Modulation of glutamate receptors: strategies for the development of novel antidepressants.

Amino acids·2002
Same author

Ibogaine as a glutamate antagonist: relevance to its putative antiaddictive properties.

The Alkaloids. Chemistry and biology·2001
Same author

Intra- and interstrain differences in models of "behavioral despair".

Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior·2001
Same author

AMPA receptor function is altered in GLUR2-deficient mice.

Journal of molecular neuroscience : MN·2001
Same journal

War and Terrorism Perceptions a Decade Later: Target Distinction or Ethnic-Cultural Bias?

The Journal of social psychology·2026
Same journal

You Must Eat Less Meat! Effects of Issue Importance on Reactance to Meat-Reduction Messages.

The Journal of social psychology·2026
Same journal

The Dynamics of Distributed Leadership and Organizational Citizenship Behavior in Healthcare: Moderated Mediation of Psychological Capital and Emotional Exhaustion.

The Journal of social psychology·2026
Same journal

Threat-Induced Conservatism in a Liberal Electorate: Issue-Based Shifts without Ideological Transformation.

The Journal of social psychology·2026
Same journal

Exploring schadenfreude from the perspectives of deservingness and terror management theories.

The Journal of social psychology·2026
Same journal

The Impact of Shame, Humiliation and Pride on Revenge Desire and Behavior in Victims of Crime: A Pilot Experimental Study.

The Journal of social psychology·2026
See all related articles

Eyewitness reliability shows a bias, with people better at identifying their own sex. Men and women also focus on different objects, challenging the weapon focus effect

Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Forensic Psychology
  • Cognitive Psychology

Background:

  • Eyewitness identification accuracy is crucial in legal proceedings.
  • The weapon focus effect suggests a decrease in recall for peripheral details when a weapon is present.
  • Previous research has explored factors influencing eyewitness memory, including perpetrator characteristics and situational variables.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate sex differences in eyewitness reliability.
  • To test an object salience explanation for the weapon focus effect.
  • To examine how different objects influence attention and memory in eyewitnesses.

Main Methods:

  • 191 American college students (males and females) viewed a slide sequence of a target individual with various objects.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Participants attempted to identify the target from a photospread.
  • A questionnaire assessed recall of physical details about the target and objects.

    • Main Results:

    • A significant own-sex identification bias was confirmed (p < .001).
    • The object salience hypothesis for the weapon focus effect was not supported.
    • A significant interaction revealed that men and women were distracted by different types of objects (p < .009).

    Conclusions:

    • Own-sex bias influences eyewitness identification accuracy.
    • The weapon focus effect may not be solely explained by object salience.
    • Individual differences in attention to objects, based on sex, play a role in eyewitness memory.