A witness identifies an innocent person seen somewhere else as the perpetrator of a crime. The main reason for this mistake in memory occurring is that
A)new information tends to "overwrite" semantic memories.
B)people often cannot remember the source of a memory.
C)procedural memories are easily confused by similar information.
D)the serial position effect is causing the incorrect retrieval.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

People often cannot remember the source of a memory, leading to misattribution of the memory to the wrong source or event. This is known as source amnesia and can result in a witness mistakenly identifying someone as being present at a crime scene when they were actually seen elsewhere.

A Witness Identifies an Innocent Person Seen Somewhere Else as the Perpetrator