The Misinformation Effect and Unconscious Transference

One problem is what's called the misinformation effect. If you're told something about a crime in terms of what happened at the scene or who was there, that will become part of your memory. And you may not be able to distinguish that from what actually happened. Unbeknownst to Donald Thompson, while he was on live television, a woman had her apartment broken into and she was raped. She went to the police and described Donald Thompson and had his face drawn. This was her rapist. He was arrested the next day, but he said, I have a watertight alibi,. It took a little bit of time for all this to get worked out and unraveled.