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"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"True Lies"
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READER SCRIPT
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DID YOU SEE WHAT I PERCEIVED? THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. IN COURT, "THE WHOLE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT" MAY DEPEND ON WHERE THE WITNESS'S BRAIN STORED THE MEMORY. NEW CORNELL RESEARCH INDICATES THAT--WHEN IT COMES TO RECOUNTING EVENTS--WE ARE OF TWO MINDS: WHAT REALLY HAPPENED, AND THE MEANING OF WHAT HAPPENED. THE "FILES" ARE STORED IN TWO SEPARATE PARTS OF THE BRAIN: WHEN YOU RECALL THE MEMORY OF THE EVENT, YOU DON'T CONSCIOUSLY KNOW WHETHER YOUR RECOLLECTION IS "AS IT WAS"--THAT IS, "VERBATIM"--OR "WHAT IT MEANT"--THAT IS, "THE GIST". THE RESEARCHERS BELIEVE THAT THERE'S TRUTH, LIES, AND A THIRD POSSIBILITY: FALSE MEMORY. IN OUR CURRENT LEGAL SYSTEM, THE TESTIMONY OF CHILDREN IS GENERALLY NOT REGARDED AS BEING VERY DEPENDABLE--WHILE, ACCORDING TO THIS STUDY, JUST THE OPPOSITE MAY BE TRUE: BECAUSE CHILDREN HAVE LESS EXPERIENCE TO DRAW FROM , THEY'RE LESS LIKELY TO GIVE MEANING TO NEW EVENTS; WHEN COMPARED TO ADULTS, THEIR DESCRIPTION WILL PROBABLY BE CLOSER TO WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED. THE SCIENTISTS CONTINUE TO WORK ON WAYS TO IDENTIFY WHICH MEMORIES ARE BEING ACCESSED--AND WHICH MAY BE FALSE MEMORIES. SOMETIMES, GOING BACK TO THE SCENE--OR PHRASING QUESTIONS A CERTAIN WAY TO A WITNESS--MAY HELP US TO REVEAL "VERBATIM", OR "TRUE", MEMORIES. THE "DISCOVERY FILES" COVERS PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT'S NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOU! LEARN MORE AT "N-S-F"-DOT-GOV--OR ON THEIR PODCAST.
For additional "Discovery Files" features from the National Science Foundation, click here.
