Our changeable memories: legal and practical implications.
The malleability of memory is becoming increasingly clear. Many influences can cause memories to change or even be created anew, including our imaginations and the leading questions or different recollections of others. The knowledge that we cannot rely on our memories, however compelling they might be, leads to questions about the validity of criminal convictions that are based largely on the testimony of victims or witnesses. Our scientific understanding of memory should be used to help the legal system to navigate this minefield.
Loftus
Elizabeth
E
2393 Social Ecology II, University of California, Irvine, California 92697-7085, USA. eloftus@uci.edu
D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination / Q000502:physiology; D007603:Jurisprudence; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012919:Social Behavior