Experiencing, remembering and reporting events

Human beings frequently describe from memory events they have observed, and most people consider these descriptions to be accurate. However, scientifi c research on memory in the last few decades has revealed that people's mem ories are often inaccurate. These errors in memory are systematic and are e specially likely to occur for the kinds of events that are reported in cour troom testimony: reports of strangers performing brief, violent or unexpect ed acts that are frightening to the observer/witness. This article examines the research on factors that affect the accuracy of initial observation, e ncoding and remembering and forgetting such events. The authors consider th e special memory issues involved in describing and identifying strangers an d how these can impair the accuracy of eyewitness identifications. Througho ut the review of the research findings, the authors consider their impact o n courtroom procedures governing eyewitness testimony and identification. T he article concludes with a set of policy recommendations based on this sci entific evidence.