Recently a cop was accused of obstructing justice and perjury after asserting that he did not see his colleagues unlawfully beating up another, undercover cop (they though he was the suspect in a crime the force was investigating). Turns out the first cop was chasing a suspect in the same crime, and ran right by the cops doing their nefarious duty. However, his story that he just didn't see the violence was so incredible to the court, that his conviction stood.
This story prompted Union College researchers to conduct a study (of undergraduates), where the subjects were asked to follow someone and make mental notes about him. Seems that about two thirds of the time, the subjects did not see a fight which had been staged for the purpose.
This research shows that we have a better opinion of our ability to absorb visual cues around us than we do. Such an insight is important when dealing with coworkers who present vastly differing versions of events. Maybe they just literally saw things differently. For this reason, it is important to always get both sides of a story when making employment decisions based on employee reports.
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