Memory is defined as the process involved in retaining, retrieving, and using information about stimuli and skills when the original information is no longer present, therefore, memory has an effect on everything we do daily. Memory is used and is important in things like remembering to take out the trash and remembering to lock the door on the way of the house in the morning. Memory though is not kept exactly as it once was. Memory is often revised unintentionally by adding “facts” or merging two memories together and forming one. Memories are sometimes used in criminal cases as well and in once instance memory was used to wrongfully convict someone of a crime.
Almost two decades ago, Richard Jones was sentenced to 19 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. Richards only fault was looking similar to and having a similar name to the real criminal. Eyewitness testimony as well as officers investigation led to the conclusion of Richard Jones being the perpetrator. Years later the victim speaks out stating that she no longer feels she chose the right guy. “I am no longer certain I identified the right person at the preliminary hearing and trial,” Tamara Scherer, the robbery victim, said in an affidavit last year. “If I had seen both men at the time, I would not have felt comfortable choosing between the two men and possibly sending a man to prison. (Phillips)”
While we may believe that our memories are true to what has once happened, we are shown time and time again that memories are not error proof. “Neuroscientists say that many of our daily memories are falsely reconstructed because our view of the world is constantly changing.(Hogenboom)” While many people still believe memory works like a video camera, this is just not the case. In fact, the effect of false memories has aided in false witness testimonies so greatly that there is even a project called “The Innocence Project” with the goal of overturning these false convictions.
References:
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-24286258