Speaking Further of Memory

Since I've run out of yarn for the afghan squares I'm supposed to be knitting, I had a chance to catch up on Wired. Wouldn't you know they have a story about unusually reliable memory?

It's about Jill Price, who has startlingly accurate recall of events in her life. The days and dates of news events, weather, and what was happening, are all clear in her memory. 

She doesn't remember absolutely everything that she's ever learned, however, so it's not a perfect record: her memory focuses on her own life, rather than incorporating historical information from before she was born, or even more recent events that maybe she just wasn't that interested in. 

The article concludes that the exceptionally good memory may be similar to obsessive-compulsive disorder; she remember things about her life incredibly well because she keeps excellent records and thinks about it all the time.

So there are certainly people whose memory is a lot better than average. Perhaps I would trust her recollection of the discussion at a book purchasing meeting.

It's not clear from the article whether she would be any better than the average person at correctly picking someone out of a police line-up, so I'm not sure about the implications for justice.