Reconstructive Memory

Reconstructive memory refers to a class of memory theories that claim that the experience of remembering an event involves processes that make use of partial fragmentary information as well as a set of rules for combining that information into a coherent view of the past event. These theories provide a powerful way of understanding how witnesses remember crimes, how reliable recovered memories of abuse are, and how jurors remember testimony. According to reconstructive theories of memory, ordinary memory is prone to error. Errors in remembering can be broken down into errors of omission, in which information is [Page 676]left out of a memory report, and errors of commission, in which inaccurate information is added to a memory report. Errors of commission are more typically referred ...