influences, which can cause it to change. Most people are not aware that their memories are not perfect. There are many opportunities for error to occur during the memory process. The three stages of memory are encoding, retention and retrieval. Roger Terry calls this the E-R-R model because at each step, there is a chance for error (p. 1).
             Encoding, the first step, is how physical and sensory data from the environment are changed into representations that are later stored in memory (Sternberg, p. 252). Since "encoding depends on sensing, perceiving, and storing experiences, and these processes require effort and attention" these processes can easily be interfered with (Terry, p. 1). First of all, a lot of crimes happen very quickly, though it may seem a lot longer to the witness, and they are not able to encode all of the information. Second, it might be hard to see exactly what is happening if the lighting is bad, if for example it is at night, and the witness might misinterpret what is happening. Third, the crimes might be very dramatic and involve a lot of complex action and the witness might mix up some of the items when encoding them. Fourth, if the crimes are violent the person can be very scared for their own safety and be distracted from some important details. If just one of these factors interfe!
             re with the encoding, already there has been a change in the witness' memory of the crime (Terry, p. 1).
             The second step, known as retention or storage, is the process of keeping the information that has been encoded (Sternberg, p. 252). A lot is forgotten during the first few minutes of retention, but more importantly is that there are a number of events that can change the information from when it was encoded to when it will be retrieved later. According to Fruzzetti, Toland, Teller and Loftus (1992) during this time period, "witnesses, without knowing that they are doing so, often inco...