5 CREATING MEMORIES: True and False

Emotional events have a profound impact on memory. We have vivid memories of both the triumphs and tragedies in our lives. For instance, when identifying the perpetrator, a rape victim might proclaim that they will never forget the person's face, saying that it is indelibly represented in their memory. Such testimony is compelling, but is the memory an accurate one? Not always, as it turns out. A striking instance of memory failure in such a situation is provided by the case of a well-known Australian psychologist, Donald Thomson. He had appeared on a live TV broadcast on eyewitness testimony along with the local chief of police and other dignitaries, and in the program Thomson had described the salient features of identification, using his own face as an example. Several days later he was picked up by the police and charged with rape! This was despite his protestations that he had participated in a television program on the night in question. “Along with the chief of police!” he told his captors, who were unimpressed: “Sure … and with Jesus Christ, and who else?” they asked sarcastically.1 It turned out that the actual perpetrator had broken into a woman's apartment and raped her while she was watching the TV program and had viewed Thomson's face during the traumatic event. She provided the complete details of his description to the police, who then arrested Thomson. He was speedily released, of course, but the incident illustrates how a bystander's features may be mistaken for the perpetrator's features in the course of a violent event, and then registered as a vivid and emotionally charged memory.