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Seeing and Believing: Common Courtroom Myths in Eyewitness Memory

When it comes to understanding eyewitness memory, people’s commonsense views are sometimes consistent with contemporary scientific knowledge – but sometimes they are dangerously adrift. This article aims to unravel some of the common myths that appear in the courts, in the news, and in the awareness of the public. On a mid-summer evening in 1982, in a small town in the southern U.S., 24-year-old Susan¹ was walking home, when a man grabbed her, threatened her with a gun, forced her... / more