Psychology
Why Are Eyewitness Testimonies Often Unreliable?
Quick fact
Of the first 239 wrongful convictions overturned by DNA evidence in the U.S., more than 70% involved mistaken eyewitness identification, often from confident, honest witnesses.
Why this is interesting
Imagine you witness a crime. How confident would you be in your memory of the culprit? Studies show that even highly confident eyewitnesses are often wrong—and their memories can be surprisingly easy to distort.