(20)Limitations in both perception and memory are responsible for the fact that the remembered event contains only a fraction of the detail present during the actual event, and the delay between observation and
(25)recitation causes witnesses’ memories to lose even more of the original perceptions. During the course of a trial, a witness’s recitation of the now-abstracted events may reflect selected disclosure based on his or her
(30)attitudes and motivations surrounding that testimony. Furthermore, the incidents reported are dependent on the lines of inquiry established by the attorneys involved. Accordingly, the recited data are a
(35)fraction of the remembered data, which are a fraction of the observed data, which are a fraction of the total data for the event. After the event that led to the trial has been abstracted by participants in the trial, jurors
(40)are expected to resolve factual issues. Some of the jurors’ conclusions are based on facts that were directly recited; others are found inferentially. Here another abstraction process takes place. Discussions during deliberations.