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Rundown On Witness Research Paper

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Maizie Mendenall
Mrs. McGillvray
Science fair research paper
9 December 2016 The Rundown on Witnesses There are many things that people that witness a crime, such as mugging, would do. Very few would have the first instinct to pay attention to what was happening, and many would freak out. For the most part, people would freak out for a second, and call 911. People that do this are helping in some ways and not at all in others. Because the person would have had a moment of sheer panic, and blanked out for a second, the criminal would have been able to get away with little chance of being caught. When the police come and ask the witness what the criminal/criminals looked like, would many would be unable to answer confidently. It would …show more content…

The part of the brain that is in charge of memory is called the hippocampus, which is part of the cerebral cortex. The cerebral cortex is in charge of thinking, problem solving, and many different kinds of language skills. People that have a problem with their hippocampus can have trouble remembering new details they have taken in. There are also many different parts of the hippocampus that apply directly to the memory. These parts include short-term memory, long-term memory, sensory memory, and the constructive processes. Short-term memory is the information that stays in your brain only when you are thinking about it, about 20 to 30 seconds. After this, it is most likely forgotten. Long-term memory is when your hippocampus keeps track of facts you learn, ideas you have, and experiences. Even when people stop thinking about these things, the memory can last a lifetime. Another part of the hippocampus, sensory memory, remembers information only for one or two seconds. The brain creates a mental image that disappears when you stop directly thinking about a particular thing. The last part of the hippocampus is the constructive processes. Constructive processes are memories that your brain makes up in order to make sense of a detail in which you only remember some of the details. The few details that the brain remembers are combined with other small details that your brain adds in order for it to …show more content…

The fact of the matter is, though, if a person is under the age of 45 their memory is considered to be fairly good. For the most part, the reason why it is difficult to always remember details is because most oftenly, people are not paying full attention to it, or not fully interested. The less interested someone is in something, the more difficult it will be to remember it in a future time. Sometimes this means that it is better to pretend to be interested, and trick your brain into paying attention. If someone is trying to remember something, it might also help to listen to music. However, if that person is planning on listening to music, it is important to listen to the right type of music. Your favorite music is not the right music to pick, neither is your least favorite music or something someone has heard a million times. The best type of music to listen to if you are trying to remember information is classical music, but if someone is not a fan, they could also listen to a type of music they do not love or hate at a low volume. Another thing that helps when trying to remember information is not being stressed, or super mellow. The brain has a hard time functioning when the person is stressed out, and forgets key details, but it has an equally hard time remembering things if that same person is too mellow, or have an mannerism that he or she does not

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