How Accurate Is Visual Memory?

Lesley Stahl fails a visual memory test and demonstrates why so many inmates have been wrongly convicted by eyewitness testimony.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• lesley
• stahl
• 60
• minutes
• memory
• eyewitness
• testimony
• study
• convictions
• crime
• reverse

[Wavecurve]

That is why I oppose death penalty.  If you execute someone by mistake, how would you undo it? It is better for the worst criminal to go to prison for life, than for an innocent person to be executed because of false testimony.

[smhussain62]

@blooodmask I agree but I also understand that 100% certainty i.e. "beyond the shadow of a doubt" is an impossible standard which courts recognise they are incapable of meeting in practice. Any such sentencing option would never be useful to a reasonable court and would only be used by a court which was being run by the angry mob.

[blooodmask]

@Wavecurve I don't people get executed of false testimonies that often. I think a death sentence needs more evidence than just a testimony. I'm with the death sentence only if they are 100% sure about the killer, if not, they should give another punishment.

[fattboy28]

it wuld b nice if it played

[Urza26]

How about people like Bobby Fischer or Leonardo Da Vinci? Are they the exception or can anyone be almost as good as them?

[JusticeRightsFreedom]

Its also proven that Visual sensory memory lasts about 1 second. Your brain can take in an immense amount of visual information but its gone after one second, thats why its so easy to forget faces if you havent seen them often.

[Fragaunator]

That's some scary stuff.

[mapp2tube]

Interesting topic!

[bud8efan]

and that is what happens scarey