individuals who see and later recall the same event produce markedly discrepant accounts. Aside from motivational factors (such as dishonesty) or personal differences in memory capacity there are a number of factors relevant to affecting the accuracy information recalled from long-term memory. One of the first things to consider when comparing different recollections of the same events is to consider under what conditions the respondents encoded the information which they later recalled. Important encoding conditions include the length of time the incident occurred (longer events result in more accurate recall) and any possible distracting circumstances that were present during the event that could interfere with encoding. However, perhaps the most important consideration concerns the preconceived notions of the eye of the beholder. A person encoding information that will be stored into long-term memory is not like a video camera. People view the world through preconceived notions or schema that frame...
[ View Full Essay]