Learn · TED

Talk19 min

Why eyewitnesses get it wrong

Scott Fraser · TED

Watch At TED

About

Scott Fraser studies how humans remember crimes -- and bear witness to them. In this powerful talk, which focuses on a deadly shooting at sunset, he suggests that even close-up eyewitnesses to a crime can create "memories" they could not have seen. Why? Because the brain abhors a vacuum. Editor's note: In the original version of this talk, Scott Fraser misspoke about available footage of Two World Trade Center (Tower 2). The misstatement has been edited out for clarity.

The talk

  1. Why eyewitnesses get it wrong 19 min · TED's player

Credits and licence

Institution
TED
Department
TEDxUSC
Speaker
Scott Fraser
Year
2012
Level
For everyone
Language
English
Subjects
Biology, Psychology and the brain, Society and politics, Law
Source
TED
Licence
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, as TED states it. Non-commercial use only, and no changed versions. TED's terms
Attribution
TED Talks are licensed by TED under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International and are shown here in TED's own player, as TED's usage policy asks.
Who can watch
TED gives no rating. Invisible Network shows it to Teens profiles and older, judged from what the source says about it. How courses are placed