Read the following information.

A police officer is reading the statements of two eyewitnesses. Both statements describe the same robbery committed by one person in a local shop.

The first eyewitness described the robber as being a male, in his late teens, wearing a red hoodie and not carrying a weapon.

The second eyewitness described the robber as being a male with a facial scar, in his late-twenties, wearing a red T-shirt and carrying a knife.

Use your knowledge of the theory of reconstructive memory to explain why each eyewitness gave different descriptions of the same robber.

Reconstructive memory theory posits that our memories are not passive recordings but are actively built from pieces of information, with our schemas filling in the gaps. In this scenario, the two eyewitnesses have different schemas based on their life experiences. The second witness's schema of a 'robber' might include stereotypical features like scars and knives. Their brain may have unconsciously added these details during recall to create a more complete and coherent memory, a process known as confabulation. The first witness's schema might be different, leading to a different reconstruction. The discrepancy between a 'hoodie' and a 'T-shirt' could be a simple error or a rationalisation based on their schema of a 'teenager'. This demonstrates how memory is subjective and prone to distortion.