Wishful Thinking in Courtrooms: The Memory Extractor

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Recommended: How does human memory work

The Memory Extractor is a machine that can detect your episodic memories and display them on a screen. The Memory Extractor will locate your prefrontal cortex and the temporal lobe which is where memories of recent events and new data is stored. By hooking a person up to electrodes, the machine can read what is going on in your prefrontal cortex and temporal lobe and portray them on a screen. In trials the defendant will be hooked up to the machine while being shown images of the crime scene. The defendant will think about what happened in those images thus recalling the memories during the crime. This machine could shorten trial times and further save many from extensive jury duty.

Memory Extractor

Trials are held every day throughout the United States. Trials last anywhere from days to months. The longest trial was thirty months. Trials are stressful and aggravating. Witnesses are called to the stand to be questioned about everything that involves the crime. Although witnesses are sworn to tell the truth, it is very easy to be dishonest. To make matters worse, citizens are required to sit through these trials.. Many find this a nuisance considering that they will have to take time off of work to sit through a trial that could last a very long time. Also, the longer the trials, the more money taxpayers have to pay.

Present Technology

The current technology used in some court rooms is a polygraph. As noted by “Discovery Channel,” a polygraph is a “machine that is composed of devices that detect and measure blood pressure, heart rate, electrodermal activity and rate of respiration.” (www.curiosity.discovery.com). During an interview or interrogation, a person will be hooked up to the machine and asked ques...

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...ered” the footage when asked about it later. Those people created a false memory because an investigator talked to them about it. That means if they can create a false memory about what happened at the crime scene then the machine might pick up on the false memory. If that happens, then an innocent person could seem to be the one that committed the crime. This is why it is crucial to get the memories as soon as possible so false memories will not be stored in the brain, causing an innocent person to seem guilty.

Works Cited

http://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/24/us/longest-trial-post-mortem-collapse-child-abuse-case-so-much-agony-for-so-little.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

http://curiosity.discovery.com/question/where-brain-store-our-memories

http://www.dailytech.com/Japanese+Dream+Machine+Can+Visualize+Your+Dreams+With+50+Percent+Accuracy/article30291.htm

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