The weapon focus effect on memory for female versus male perpetrators

Abstract

Previous research suggests that weapons are often inconsistent with the schema activated by eyewitnesses, which leads them to attend to weapons more than they would to neutral objects. Therefore an especially strong weapon focus effect should occur when a perpetrator holds an object primarily associated with the opposite rather than the same gender. As predicted, a handgun reduced the accuracy of witnesses’ descriptions of a female perpetrator more than descriptions of a male perpetrator (Experiment 1). Additionally, memory for a female perpetrator was more severely impaired if she carried a folding knife as opposed to a knitting needle, but the reverse was true when the perpetrator was male (Experiment 2). Finally, the weapon focus effect was eliminated for perpetrators of both genders if witnesses saw them as dangerous individuals (Experiment 3).

Keywords:

• Eyewitness memory
• Weapon focus effect
• Gender stereotypes

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Kate Bernhardt, Audra Brugh, Nathan Felt, Ashley Ford, Peyton Groff, Kelli Hammes, Zach Harris, Chris Jaberg, Tanya Karam, Jennifer Lambert, Jodie McClain, Nick Mitchell, Ashley Montero, Erin Mylet, Brian Salisbury, and Todd Warner for their assistance with this project.

Notes

¹At first glance it may appear puzzling that the threat ratings in the weapon condition were not greater than those in the CD condition. However, witnesses were not asked how threatening each object was. Instead they rated how threatening the perpetrator seemed as he or she interacted with the victims, and the perpetrator's words and behaviour remained consistent across conditions.