Running head: THE FALLIBILITY OF MEMORY
1
The Fallibility of Memory: Factors Leading to False Memories and their Implications
on Eyewitness Testimony
Student Name
Liberty University
,THE FALLIBILITY OF MEMORY 2
Abstract
Research over the past several decades have provided evidence for and against memory recall
ability and its’ underlying cognitive mechanisms. Memory is an important phenomena being that
it is relied upon in virtually all instances of human life. In particular however, is the instance of
the eyewitness testimony. Given that research has found memory to be easily impaired by
environmental interference, there are significant indications for testimonial competence.
Research pioneered by those such as Elizabeth Loftus (1975) have paved the way for further
research on this topic. Therefore, it is the research of several teams that is reviewed to support
the argument for the fallibility of memory along with research showing opposing findings. In
addition, real life examples of the consequences of false memory are examined, as well as the
implications research findings have for eyewitness testimony.
Keywords: memory, eyewitness testimony, false memory, arousal, misinformation effect
, THE FALLIBILITY OF MEMORY 3
The Fallibility of Memory: Factors Leading to False Memories and their Implications on
Eyewitness Testimony
Memory is the term used to describe the complex processes of the formulation of new
memories and is sometimes referred to as memory construction whereas memory reconstruction
is the process of memory retrieval. Of importance to this paper is episodic memory which entails
the personally unique account of autobiographical events. It is often the case that episodic
memory for a crime is used for eyewitness testimonies in which a person is required to recall the
facts of past events that they themselves had witnessed. Unfortunately, there are several
physiological, psychological and social factors that affect cognition and human memory.
Although there is some debate on how these factors affect memory or at which point they effect
memory (Zaragoza & Lane, 1994; Schwabe & Wolf, 2014), they still remain important
phenomena to consider being that ultimately, these factors can affect memory negatively. Some
of these factors include the misinformation effect and outside suggestion, familiarity effects,
levels of stress arousal, schemas, and emotional or psychological coercion. These and other
effects like false memory syndrome have helped to convict innocent people in courtrooms where
the jurors assign significant power to eyewitness testimony (Lacy & Stark, 2013), despite how
deceptive memory can be.
There are several real-life events and scores of research studies that show that people can
be manipulated to unintentionally produce false memories. This kind of unreliability has been
shown in court cases such as State vs. Cotton in 1985, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania vs.
Yarris in 1982, State vs. Abbitt in 1995, and People vs. Abney in 2006 (The National Registry of
Exonerations, 2019) where in each case, false memory likely contributed to false witness
testimonies and subsequent convictions. Research studies, like those authored by Lacy and Stark
1
The Fallibility of Memory: Factors Leading to False Memories and their Implications
on Eyewitness Testimony
Student Name
Liberty University
,THE FALLIBILITY OF MEMORY 2
Abstract
Research over the past several decades have provided evidence for and against memory recall
ability and its’ underlying cognitive mechanisms. Memory is an important phenomena being that
it is relied upon in virtually all instances of human life. In particular however, is the instance of
the eyewitness testimony. Given that research has found memory to be easily impaired by
environmental interference, there are significant indications for testimonial competence.
Research pioneered by those such as Elizabeth Loftus (1975) have paved the way for further
research on this topic. Therefore, it is the research of several teams that is reviewed to support
the argument for the fallibility of memory along with research showing opposing findings. In
addition, real life examples of the consequences of false memory are examined, as well as the
implications research findings have for eyewitness testimony.
Keywords: memory, eyewitness testimony, false memory, arousal, misinformation effect
, THE FALLIBILITY OF MEMORY 3
The Fallibility of Memory: Factors Leading to False Memories and their Implications on
Eyewitness Testimony
Memory is the term used to describe the complex processes of the formulation of new
memories and is sometimes referred to as memory construction whereas memory reconstruction
is the process of memory retrieval. Of importance to this paper is episodic memory which entails
the personally unique account of autobiographical events. It is often the case that episodic
memory for a crime is used for eyewitness testimonies in which a person is required to recall the
facts of past events that they themselves had witnessed. Unfortunately, there are several
physiological, psychological and social factors that affect cognition and human memory.
Although there is some debate on how these factors affect memory or at which point they effect
memory (Zaragoza & Lane, 1994; Schwabe & Wolf, 2014), they still remain important
phenomena to consider being that ultimately, these factors can affect memory negatively. Some
of these factors include the misinformation effect and outside suggestion, familiarity effects,
levels of stress arousal, schemas, and emotional or psychological coercion. These and other
effects like false memory syndrome have helped to convict innocent people in courtrooms where
the jurors assign significant power to eyewitness testimony (Lacy & Stark, 2013), despite how
deceptive memory can be.
There are several real-life events and scores of research studies that show that people can
be manipulated to unintentionally produce false memories. This kind of unreliability has been
shown in court cases such as State vs. Cotton in 1985, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania vs.
Yarris in 1982, State vs. Abbitt in 1995, and People vs. Abney in 2006 (The National Registry of
Exonerations, 2019) where in each case, false memory likely contributed to false witness
testimonies and subsequent convictions. Research studies, like those authored by Lacy and Stark
