The malleability and reliability of eyewitness testimony

In a provocative article, John Wixted and Laura Mickes argue that eyewitness memory is a lot more reliable than previously considered. They make a distinction between malleability and reliability. While there is evidence that memory is malleable that does not necessarily mean memory is unreliable. Contamination of the original memory trace can be averted with proper testing protocols. They conclude that eyewitness memory is reliable when initially tested using proper procedures. In their article, they suggest ways that the legal system can ensure that eyewitness testimony continues to play a valuable role in the determining innocence or guilt.