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The New Science of Eyewitness Memory | John Wixted | TED

We’ve built a legal system that distrusts eyewitness memory — backed by cautionary science and high-profile exonerations. John Wixted, a leading psychology researcher, challenges this conventional wisdom with a counterintuitive finding: the problem might not be memory itself but how (and when) courts test it. (Recorded at TEDxUCSanDiego on May 17, 2025) Join us in…

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We’ve built a legal system that distrusts eyewitness memory — backed by cautionary science and high-profile exonerations. John Wixted, a leading psychology researcher, challenges this conventional wisdom with a counterintuitive finding: the problem might not be memory itself but how (and when) courts test it. (Recorded at TEDxUCSanDiego on May 17, 2025)

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18 Comments

  1. @welcome.421

    April 5, 2026 at 11:04 am

    ❤Yes TED — just to say thank you for understanding🙏🏼

  2. @HamidAW

    April 5, 2026 at 11:10 am

    Your words are really valuable💡

  3. @abbosakramov1316

    April 5, 2026 at 11:25 am

    That’s why in Islam 4 witnesses are required for some type of crimes

    • @ObinnaOkehie

      April 5, 2026 at 12:36 pm

      It’s interesting how 4 authors each wrote the story of the Lord Jesus Christ. 4 witnesses confirming the Truth of who Jesus is.

    • @SamanthaPhilip324

      April 5, 2026 at 1:54 pm

      @ObinnaOkehie The gospels were each written decades after Jesus’ ministry. This would suggest they’re somewhat Unreliable.

    • @ObinnaOkehie

      April 5, 2026 at 3:02 pm

      ​@SamanthaPhilip324what matters is that there are at least 4 WITNESSES who, at different times, wrote a biography of Jesus Christ, and their stories align. There are also others who wrote of Jesus Christ like Paul, James and Peter and all of their work align and describe His nature and character. The more witness stories that align, the more confident we are that the stories of Jesus Christ contained in the Bible are true.

    • @Saphina1416

      April 5, 2026 at 4:10 pm

      Interesting fact: The word “silver” means money according to Scottish English. This is valid in the English language. I’m siding with the Scottish on this one!

    • @Unknownpractitioner123

      April 5, 2026 at 5:51 pm

      @ObinnaOkehie as someone else pointed out out, there were written decades after the event by people who were not eye witnesses to the event..

  4. @noneed2argue44

    April 5, 2026 at 11:42 am

    If only eyewitness memory was as quantifiable as forensic evidence! Loved this one. Thank you!

  5. @Unknownpractitioner123

    April 5, 2026 at 12:06 pm

    Yet people still believe the “eye witness testimonies” of the resurrection despite the fact they were claimed by one individual (Paul) and written 25+ years following the death of Christ 🤡

  6. @TardigradeTough

    April 5, 2026 at 12:54 pm

    Court hold eye witness testimony in too high a regard our brains are so flawed and easily mistaken and fooled

  7. @jf-jx4ym

    April 5, 2026 at 1:35 pm

    This is good lecture…

    You cant really generalize…this.. At all its really tough..

    Even assuming Theres a goal of 100% truth in the eye witness.. Assuming cops lawyers judges are not corrupt or unreasonable .

    This Depends on situation.. Time of day.. Social belief and interests.. Hatred.. Manipulation.. Personal connections.. Media brainwashing.. Period.. Hormonal activity.. Whether one has been lied about in the past (lying is contagious)… Framing..trauma.. Dreams.. Personal benefit of witness group…. Personal benefit of target and the judgement system..personal benefit of culprits….. Social pressure.. Past Memories..

    Not even DNA is dependable.. Processwise… Especially if one can expect malicious intent or childish intent from someone…

    Like making false claims.. Deliberate or not..

    Imagine social media or neutral nets… group of Malactors or people abusing someones name or face or missinformation or such for their own means and ends.. By destroying the person or group of people in question..

    All this is ofc only used to sell the narrative for surveillance as needed thing in our lives. Its not. But cant excape it.

    If people with malicious or benefit seeking intent get ahold of your information.. Whatever that is.. You can be framed also.. One Can plant social truths or tidbits of information for horrible abusive lies.

    Most often modern crime utilizes trust.. Surveillance.. Digital systems and even police for their own benefit its fukching horrible if you have been targeted by it..

  8. @AndarilhoMarco

    April 5, 2026 at 3:45 pm

    Dude makes a lot of claims without evidence, and relies on the abstract notion of “untainted memory”. There is no such thing as untainted memory in reality. As early as the person thinking about the experience or trying to put it into words the memory is already being tainted, and it just gets worse every time the person recalls it. Even his point that the witness not recognizing anyone at first test is evidence of innocence is false because we know people can misjudge how good they can recall something. Memory is just not reliable enough to a legal procedure and always should be verified.

  9. @thechuckjosechannel.2702

    April 5, 2026 at 5:32 pm

    Good lecture unlike Actual Justice Warrior.

  10. @homewall744

    April 5, 2026 at 7:11 pm

    Eyewitnesses should never be used in court and should only be used to help driver investigators to find real evidence.

  11. @homewall744

    April 5, 2026 at 7:19 pm

    The US legal system hates the notion of justice or the truth. It’s all about closing cases and holding grudges.

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