Kotre found other researchers with concerns about how memory had traditionally been studied. Most of the time it had been in the context of short tasks such as remembering some nonsense syllables or number sequences. This approach led to a fundamental change in thinking about memory. In 1980, most psychologists thought of memory as a machine, like a computer, where everything a person ever experienced in life is stored. Every memory is there just as it went in and all someone needs to do is find the right buttons to retrieve it.
Researchers now know memory is more malleable.
For example, Kotre recounts in his book research on eyewitness identification. Subjects viewed films of a car accident who were then tested on what they remembered. There wasn't, but the subjects would sometimes remember broken glass just because they were asked about it, says Kotre. This research helped criminal investigators understand that it is better to let witnesses remember on their own, rather than asking questions that may taint their memories. Two kinds of information go into a memory.