Date of Award

Fall 11-2-2025

Thesis Access

Open Access Honors Thesis

Thesis Location

Honors College Thesis

Degree Name

B.A.

Department

Psychology

Faculty Advisor

Lara Jones

Abstract

This paper examines the role that false memories play in eyewitness testimony. Though eyewitness testimonies are a direct source of evidence regarding a crime, they are often flawed due to the malleable and reconstructive nature of memory, leading to many wrongful convictions. This review synthesizes previous research on false memories and eyewitness testimony to analyze the factors that contribute to inaccuracies in eyewitness testimony. This paper examines the origination of false memories, highlighting key factors such as the misinformation effect, source misattribution, and retention intervals. Additionally, this review analyzes factors from previous research that increase susceptibility to false memories, the variables that contribute to the alignment of remembered testimony, and the impact of how testimony and evidence are perceived. This paper demonstrates that human memory is a reconstructive process that is prone to errors, often making eyewitness testimony an unreliable source. This paper concludes with a discussion of potential solutions to improve the accuracy of eyewitness testimony.

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