ABSTRACT
In the typical laboratory-based memory study, there are few consequences if the participants erroneously report what they have previously experienced. This is in sharp contrast to the consequences that memory errors can have in the real world. Eyewitness memory is not always accurate and errant identi®cations can lead investigations in wrong directions, can lead to guilty people remaining free, and can lead to innocent people being incarceratedÐeven on death row. In this chapter we describe how the dominant metaphor for memory used by people in general, and jurors in particular, namely that memory works like a videotape recorder, is wrong. Moreover people have other misconceptions about memory that they sometimes use to judge the eyewitness testimony that they hear in court cases. We review four areas of active research that highlight some errors of eyewitness memory.
