Editing Weapon focus (section)

== Differences in weapon focus effects ==
Differences in eyewitness memory can be attributed to whether the perpetrator holding a weapon is consistent with the eyewitness's [[Schema (psychology)|schema]].<ref name=":2" /> People use schemas to organize knowledge and provide a basis for future understanding. Researcher Kerri Pickel posits that if the object held by the target falls in line with the witness's schema, they will not divert as much attention to it and the characteristics of the perpetrator will be encoded normally - it is only when the combination of the perpetrator and the object is not consistent with the schema that the weapon focus effect will be significant in distorting memory.

Pickel looked into some differences in the memory of the eyewitnesses, when the physical traits of the perpetrator change. Firstly, the difference in memory was examined between eyewitnesses that saw a white perpetrator versus a black perpetrator. Her research, conducted in 2009, showed that the weapon focus effect weakens with 'black' perpetrators in comparison to 'white' perpetrators, and that the weapon focus effect is not significant when a "Black perpetrator wore a style of clothing that is strongly associated with Black men". It is suggested that individuals who observe a black perpetrator who is armed automatically activates a [[stereotype]] that links black men with weapons and crime. As a consequence, this reduces the unusualness of the weapon and increases the likelihood of attracting [[attention]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Pickel|first1=Kerri|last2=Sneyd|first2=Danielle|year=2018|title=The weapon focus effect is weaker with black versus white male perpetrators|journal=Memory|edition=1|volume=26|issue=1|pages=29–41|doi=10.1080/09658211.2017.1317814|pmid=28436249|s2cid=30614227 }}</ref>

In the same year, Pickel also looked at the weapon focus effect on memory for female versus male perpetrators.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Pickel|first=Kerri L.|date=2009|title=The weapon focus effect on memory for female versus male perpetrators|journal=Memory|language=en|volume=17|issue=6|pages=664–678|doi=10.1080/09658210903029412|pmid=19536689|s2cid=10272699 |issn=0965-8211}}</ref> The experiments involved participants watching videos that either had a male or female perpetrator, holding either a gun or a neutral object. Overall, the weapon focus effect was strongest when the gun was held by a woman as opposed to a male perpetrator. Participants rated the presence of the gun as more unusual when it was held by a woman versus when it was held by a man, less accurately described the physical traits of the perpetrator when they were holding a gun and the overall memory falsities were greater in the conditions where the gun was held by a female. The presence of the gun in the possession of the female perpetrators was more unexpected, thus participants allocated more of their attention to the weapon over their physical traits. Pickel did, however, find that the weapon focus effect was mitigated when participants were primed and the perpetrators were categorized as dangerous and aggressive.

A different effect of weapon focus can be used in a way to reduce change blindness. A study in 2017 aimed to find a way to reduce change blindness by making use of weapon focus. What they found was that the group of subjects that make use of weapon focus was less susceptible to change blindness when the change in the picture was a weapon they focused on.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Taylor |first1=J. Eric T. |last2=Witt |first2=Jessica K. |last3=Pratt |first3=Jay |date=2017-01-30 |title=A different kind of weapon focus: simulated training with ballistic weapons reduces change blindness |journal=Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=3 |doi=10.1186/s41235-016-0037-0 |pmid=28203631 |issn=2365-7464|pmc=5281675 |doi-access=free }}</ref> This shows that weapon focus can be used in a less negative way.