It is described that the weapon focus effect is when a witness of a crime that was committed with an armed offender stays focused on the weapon and not the offender. Since the witness stays so focused on the weapon they cannot recall correct details about the offender when reporting the crime. However, if there is not a weapon involved then the witness is more likely to recall details about the offender.
There have been many studies conducted involving the weapon focus effect. Each study consist of different variables to better understand the weapon focus effect. Researchers have changed the types of people involved, the places in which the study is conducted and the way each people experiences the effect.
Theories have been made in regards to why weapon focus effect occurs. A hypothesis called cue-utilisation says that because weapons are known …show more content…
Males are known to be more criminal than females. They are also known to be more aggressive and strong than females. Females hold a nice and weak appearance. Due to the fact that females seem weak and nonthreatening it is a possibility that weapons such as a gun or knife seems unusual in a females hands verses a males. Testing gender with the weapon focus effect can bring a better understanding of the weapon focus effect. The hypothesis is that a man and a woman with a weapon with bring on the weapon focus effect, but a woman alone with a weapon will bring on the weapon focus effect more than a man with a weapon. To test this hypotheses there were three experiments conducted. In each experiment, college students were the participants. The criminals were all different people so that the students would not get confused about good and bad guys or have pre-judged