Comments on: Eyewitness testimony: Can you really trust your own eyes?

By: georgia

georgia — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:05:48 +0000

hi – just wondered where the video was?

By: Picture Scanner

Picture Scanner — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 20:39:39 +0000

This is pretty remarkable when you first notice it (or..DON’T notice it). But when you start thinking about it, you realize how there are SO many things you do, see, or hear everyday, but they never register on to your memory.

I remember back in school, we were once told to write down the National Anthem (I’m not from the US). Now all of us were so used to hearing the National Anthem that we thought we could just do it in one second. Surprise surprise..when the results came out, just ONE guy could get the whole anthem right..something we heard everyday was something we didn’t remember a word of.

By: farouk

farouk — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 13:18:26 +0000

this is a very interesting post, i guess the police should not put a very high weight to eye witnesses if this is the case

By: George

George — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 11:43:57 +0000

I remember this little study dome by some scientists that showed that people have a tremendous ability to look but not see – they had a guy ask some stranger for directions, then when the stranger wasn’t looking, they changed the guy – and the stranger didn’t even notice!

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:53:09 +0000

This is something I’ve been thinking about a lot recently. Some of my friends recount events that we were both involved in many years ago in ways that are different to how I remember them. Sometimes only subtly or with rose-tinted embellishments, but other times their descriptions are totally skewed with people saying things they never said or even confusing separate events as if they occurred together.
I’ve always been sure I remember events very accurately , but my recent thoughts have been dwelling on the possibility that my above opinions of others’ memories may sometimes have been incorrect. I mean, how do I know for sure that my versions are right and theirs are not, with nothing to rely upon but my own memory? Why do I trust my own memories above those of others?