In the past, I have blogged about problems with memory as it relates to eyewitness testimony (links below). A public defender in California recently called to the stand a memory expert to testify about the potential problems with what eyewitnesses believe they saw.
From "Memory expert testifies at Jackson murder trial" (Contra Costa Times):
Opening her defense case in the Racardo Jackson murder trial Tuesday, Deputy Public Defender Meenha Lee called an experimental psychologist specializing in memory and perception to the witness stand.
...
During Tuesday's testimony in Solano County Superior Court, Lee quizzed expert witness Dr. Robert Shomer about the accuracy of eyewitnesses, particularly those involved in stressful incidents involving weapons.
Shomer, who specializes in memory, perception and stress, said human beings do not record events like a camera.
"The brain is subject to all kinds of issues and factors," Shomer said. "Human beings react very different. Human being do not record everything that's there," he
said, adding that people may even report seeing things that aren't there.
"Stress does not help accuracy," Shomer said.
Because people do not like a vacuum, they want to complete the picture of what they remember even though they may not have all the pieces.
"Human memory is not in any way infallible. Human perception is not infallible," Shomer stated.
Click to read the rest.
Previous posts:
- Our memory does not work like a video camera: 9-part series may provoke your reevaluation of eyewitness testimony (and memoir writing)
- Blog Glob: Study shows that older adults may be unreliable witnesses
- "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, or whatever it is you think you remember?"
- More evidence of unreliability of eyewitness testimony
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