In July 1984, an assailant broke into Jennifer Thompson's apartment. Even amidst the terror of the sudden attack, Jennifer Thompson tried to find a way to escape while also memorizing details of the assailant, hoping this would later help to sentence him to prison. Thankfully, Thompson managed to escape from the assailant, and she later assisted the police in their efforts to apprehend him. When Thompson was presented with a photo lineup, she carefully examined each one and chose the photo that most closely matched her memory. However, despite their efforts, it was later proven by a DNA test that Ronald Cotton was indeed innocent.

How could this tragedy have happened? A study by psychologists Brown and Kulik in 1985 explains this as a case of flashbulb memories. In human memory, some individuals feel more certain that they remember accurately. They explained that this usually occurs when the memory is strongly bonded with the individual or when the event is unusual compared to everyday experiences. This results in people treating them as if they have taken a photo of their memory. However, despite finding data that these memories are more resistant to change compared to other types of memory, flashbulb memories are still prone to errors.

But, does this mean that we cannot trust our memories? While it is true that our memories are prone to errors, it is also true that detaching ourselves from our memories is impossible. Thus, although our memories can guide us, we should never solely rely on them to reach conclusions.

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