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The "Vivid Means Accurate" Error

This video presents the same text shown beside it, spoken and on screen. It adds nothing the text does not say.

State

It is an error to treat a memory's vividness or the rememberer's confidence as evidence of its accuracy.

Show

Accounts recorded the day after a major event and again years later diverge sharply while confidence stays high.

Watch for

This error carries real weight in courtrooms, where confidence is persuasive to juries and weakly related to accuracy.