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Memory and law: what can cognitive neuroscience contribute?
Daniel L Schacter & Elizabeth F Loftus
A recent decision in the United States by the New Jersey Supreme Court has led to improved jury instructions that incorporate psychological research showing that memory does not operate like a video recording. Here we considerhow cognitive neuroscience could contribute to addressing memory in the courtroom. We discuss conditions in which neuroimaging can distinguish true and false memories in the laboratory and note reasons to be skeptical about its use in courtroom cases. We also discuss neuroscience research concerning false and imagined memories, misinformation effects and reconsolidation phenomena that may enhance understanding of why memory does not operate like a video recording.
npg 2013 Nature America, Inc. All rights reserved.
In November 2003, Larry Henderson was accused of holding a gun on James Womble while another man shot Rodney Harper to death in a Camden, New Jersey apartment on New Years Day of that year. Almost 2 weeks after the murder, Womble identified Henderson from a photo array. Womble again identified Henderson at trial, and Henderson was easily convicted of reckless manslaughter and aggravated assault, among other charges. An open and shut case? Turns out not so. There were problems with Wombles seemingly convincing evidence: for instance, Womble failed to identify Henderson at the initial photo array until the investigating officers intervened and exerted pressure or nudging, and Womble had ingested crack cocaine and copious amounts of wine and champagne on the day of the murder.
Eventually this case (and a companion case) reached the New Jersey Supreme Court, which issued a ruling in 2011 that garnered wide public attention1. The decision showed a sophisticated appreciation of the problem of eyewitness memory and put in place a bold new solution. The case changed the legal standard for assessing eyewitness evidence to produce a better oneone that will more successfully
deter inappropriate conduct by law enforcement and will help jurors to better evaluate evidence based on eyewitness memory. As a result of the Henderson case, defendants who can show some evidence of suggestive influences are entitled to a hearing in which all factors...