When it was revealed that Nixon had secretly recorded all meetings in the Oval Office, famous psychologist and memory researcher Ulric Neisser analyzed Dean's recollections of the meetings, as expressed through his testimony, in comparison to the meetings' actual recordings.[15] A sharp critic of stu…
When it was revealed that Nixon had secretly recorded all meetings in the Oval Office, famous psychologist and memory researcher Ulric Neisser analyzed Dean's recollections of the meetings, as expressed through his testimony, in comparison to the meetings' actual recordings.[15] A sharp critic of studying memory in a laboratory setting, Neisser saw "a valuable data trove" in Dean's recall.[16]
Neisser found that, despite Dean's confidence, the tapes proved that his memory was anything but a tape recorder.[17] Dean failed to recall any conversations verbatim, and often failed to recall the gist of conversations correctly.[17] Neisser did not explain the difference as one of deception; rather, he thought that the evidence supported the theory that memory is not akin to a tape recorder and instead should be thought of as reconstructions of information that are greatly affected by rehearsal, or attempts at replay.
Research on accuracy of Dean's memory:
When it was revealed that Nixon had secretly recorded all meetings in the Oval Office, famous psychologist and memory researcher Ulric Neisser analyzed Dean's recollections of the meetings, as expressed through his testimony, in comparison to the meetings' actual recordings.[15] A sharp critic of studying memory in a laboratory setting, Neisser saw "a valuable data trove" in Dean's recall.[16]
Neisser found that, despite Dean's confidence, the tapes proved that his memory was anything but a tape recorder.[17] Dean failed to recall any conversations verbatim, and often failed to recall the gist of conversations correctly.[17] Neisser did not explain the difference as one of deception; rather, he thought that the evidence supported the theory that memory is not akin to a tape recorder and instead should be thought of as reconstructions of information that are greatly affected by rehearsal, or attempts at replay.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dean