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What is Elizabeth Loftus most famous for?
Best Known For Elizabeth Loftus is a contemporary psychologist who is acclaimed for her research in memory. She is best known for these areas: Research on human memory. Eyewitness memory.
What is Loftus theory of memory?
Loftus' findings seem to indicate that memory for an event that has been witnessed is highly flexible. If someone is exposed to new information during the interval between witnessing the event and recalling it, this new information may have marked effects on what they recall.
What did Elizabeth Loftus discover?
Elizabeth F. Loftus (born 1944) is an American psychologist who is best known in relation to the misinformation effect, false memory and criticism of recovered memory therapies.
What area of psychology does Elizabeth Loftus work in?
cognitive psychologyElizabeth Loftus is one of those eminent psychologists famous for her ground breaking works and contributions in fields of cognitive psychology and human memory. Born in Los Angeles on October 16th, 1944 she completed BA in Psychology and Mathematics from University of California, Los Angeles.
What does Elizabeth Loftus say about repressed memory?
In the 1990s, a rising number of criminal cases were spurred by the pretense that a crime victim had suffered at the hands of a perpetrator, but had repressed the memory for years or even decades.
Who is Elizabeth Loftus and what did she discover about eyewitness testimony?
In 1974, her research thrust her into the courtroom to testify in over 200 trials as an expert witness on the unreliability of eyewitness testimonies based on false memories, which she believed to be triggered, suggested, implanted, or created in the mind.
What behaviors was Loftus able to change using false memories?
Loftus of University of California, Irvine, found that it is possible to change long-term behaviors using a simple suggestive technique. In a series of experiments, the researchers falsely suggested that participants had become ill after eating egg salad as a child.
Who discovered misinformation effect?
expert Elizabeth LoftusThe misinformation effect was first studied in the 1970s by psychologist and memory expert Elizabeth Loftus. Her research has demonstrated that memory is far easier to influence than might ordinarily be thought.
Who discovered false memories?
Elizabeth LoftusFirst up, we have Elizabeth Loftus from the University of California, Irvine, who is one of the founders of the area of false memory research, and is considered one of the most 'eminent psychologists of the 20th century.
How reliable is your memory Elizabeth Loftus summary?
Psychologist Elizabeth Loftus studies memories. More precisely, she studies false memories, when people either remember things that didn't happen or remember them differently from the way they really were.
What theory is Loftus and Palmer based on?
Secondly, Loftus and Palmer (1974) suggest that the results could in fact be due to a response bias, that is to say, the participant adjusted their estimate of the speed based upon the verb used and did not experience an actual distortion in their memory.
What theory is Loftus and Palmer based on?
Loftus and Palmer set out to study how subsequent information can affect an eyewtinesses's account of an event. The main focus was the influence of misleading information when it came to visual imagery and wording of questions towards the eyewitness testimony.
What theory did Loftus and Palmer use?
The schema theory is supported in the Loftus and Palmer study of 1974. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of leading questions of a person's memory of an event. Participants in this study were showed a clip of a car crash and then asked a serious of questions.
What was the aim of Loftus and Palmer research?
Loftus and Palmer aimed to show that leading questions could distort EWT accounts via the cues provided in the question. To test this hypothesis, Loftus and Palmer asked people to estimate the speed of motor vehicles using different forms of questions after they had observed a car accident.
What behaviors was Loftus able to change using false memories?
Loftus of University of California, Irvine, found that it is possible to change long-term behaviors using a simple suggestive technique. In a series of experiments, the researchers falsely suggested that participants had become ill after eating egg salad as a child.
What does Elizabeth Loftus believe about repressed memories?
Repressed memories are memories that people ignore or avoid by pushing them into the unconscious aspect of the mind. Loftus believes that repressed...
What did Elizabeth Loftus contribute to psychology?
Elizabeth Loftus' major contribution to psychology is her theory and research on human memory. Specifically, her research suggests that eyewitness...
What is Loftus' theory of memory?
Loftus' theory is that human memory might not always be accurate. She thinks that people can fill in gaps in memory with misinformation and that hu...
Who is Elizabeth Loftus?
Elizabeth Loftus is a contemporary psychologist who is acclaimed for her research in memory. She is best known for these areas: Research on human memory. Eyewitness memory. Misinformation effect. Explanations for forgetting.
What awards did Elizabeth Loftus receive?
Elizabeth Loftus has received a variety of awards and recognition for her work, including: 1995 – Distinguished Contribution Award from the American Academy of Forensic Psychology. 2003 – APA Distinguished Scientific Award for Applications of Psychology. 2003 – Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
What is Loftus' personal experience?
Personal Experience With Memory. Loftus has close experience with the frailty and fallibility of human memory. At a family gathering for her 44th birthday, Loftus's uncle told her that she had been the one to find her mother's body floating in the pool after a drowning accident. Before that, she had remembered very little about the incident, ...
How old was Elizabeth Loftus when her mother died?
Elizabeth Loftus was born on October 16, 1944, in Los Angeles, California, to parents Sidney and Rebecca Fishman. When Elizabeth was 14 years old, her mother passed away in a drowning accident.
What is the Loftus study?
Career. Loftus's work has made her a figure of acclaim, scrutiny and even fury. Through her studies of memory, she has revealed that not only is human memory often surprisingly unreliable, it is prone to errors and susceptible to suggestion. Loftus has not only authored numerous books and articles, but she has also appeared on a variety ...
When was Elizabeth Loftus's book published?
The American Academy of Political and Social Science. Elizabeth Loftus. Published August 9, 2016.
Who is the most eminent psychologist of the 20th century?
One study published in the Review of General Psychology ranked the top 100 most eminent psychologists of the 20th century and Loftus was listed at number 58, making her the top-ranked woman on the list.
Who is Elizabeth Loftus?
Elizabeth F. Loftus FRSE (born Elizabeth Fishman October 16, 1944) is an American cognitive psychologist and expert on human memory. She has conducted research on the malleability of human memory.
What did Loftus say about the criticisms of her research?
Loftus published a rebuttal to these critics and stated that the criticisms appeared to be based on personal animosity rather than a valid understanding of the research.
How many honorary degrees did Loftus have?
Loftus has also received seven honorary degrees in a variety of fields.
How long was Loftus under investigation?
In response, the university confiscated Loftus' files and put Loftus under investigation for 21 months, forbidding her to share her findings in the meantime. She was eventually cleared of all wrongdoing by the university, and allowed to publish her findings in 2002.
How old was Loftus when her mother drowned?
When Loftus was 14 years old, her mother drowned. Elizabeth Fishman received her Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics and psychology with highest honors from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1966.
Why is freedom important to Loftus?
In her acceptance speech for the Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award, Loftus states that the word "freedom" is personally important to her, as when she began speaking out about repressed memory, she never imagined she would become "the target of organized, relentless vitriol and harassment".
What was Loftus' work used for?
Loftus' work was used to oppose recovered memory evidence provided in court and resulted in stricter requirements for the use of recovered memories being used in trials as well as a greater requirement for corroborating evidence.
Who is Elizabeth Loftus?
Elizabeth Loftus is one of those eminent psychologists famous for her ground breaking works and contributions in fields of cognitive psychology and human memory. Born in Los Angeles on October 16th, 1944 she completed BA in Psychology and Mathematics from University of California, Los Angeles. After that she did her MA and PhD in 1970 from Stanford University. She started off her career by becoming a researcher at New School for social research in 1970. Misinformation effect and eye-witness testimony are her major ground breaking works in the fields of psychology.
What is the eyewitness memory theory?
The eye-witness memory is also one of her highly effective theory that has made her solve numerous legal issues in the courts.
Who is Elizabeth Loftus?
Elizabeth F. Loftus. Dr. Elizabeth F. Loftus, a professor of psychology and expert researcher on the malleability and reliability of repressed memories , is an instrumental figure in cognitive psychology.
Who is the author of The Myth of Repressed Memory?
Loftus' most recent book, "The Myth of Repressed Memory" written with her colleague Katherine Ketcham, was published in 1994 by St. Martin's Press. It contains three detailed histories ...
What did Loftus discover about the memory of an eyewitness?
Loftus discovered that the memories of an eyewitness could be altered after exposing that person to information that was incorrect about the event. This indicated to her that memory is open to suggestive behaviors and is highly malleable.
What did Loftus look for in his testimony?
Instead of repression and recovery, Loftus looked toward how other components of memory could help to explain why certain events could not be recalled.
How much did Jane Doe pay in the Loftus case?
Jane Doe was ordered to pay legal fees for all defendants in the case to a total of more than $450,000. Because of the sensitivity of the memories that were “recovered,” often involving physical or sexual abuse, Loftus has found herself the focus of personal animosity and criticism over the years.
What was the goal of the theory of eyewitness testimony?
The goal of her theory was simple: to counter the practice of the courts at the time of relying on eyewitness testimony as credible evidence on its own. It would lead to stricter legal standards that allowed for recovered memories to be used as evidence, with some states in the US no longer even allowing such a prosecution to occur.
What did Jane Doe claim about Loftus?
During the investigation, the Jane Doe in the case contacted the university where Loftus was working and claimed that Loftus was committing a breach of privacy. For 21 months, the university confiscated the files regarding the investigation, but allowed her to publish her findings in 2002.
How many cases did Loftus testify in?
Over the next two decades, Loftus would apply her theories of misinformation in the legal realm, providing testimony in over 250 cases regarding the information she discovered.
When did Loftus begin probing the claims?
Recovered memories of trauma were increasingly common in the 1990s, so Loftus began probing the claims to see if they could be false memories created by suggestive techniques. Some therapist and even a few self-help books during that era promoted methods that lent to the possibility of false memories being created.
Best Known For
Early Life
Career
Personal Experience with Memory
Awards and Recognition
Contributions to Psychology
- Loftus's research has demonstrated the malleability of memory, and her work has had a particular influence on the use of human memory in criminal testimony and other forensic settings.
Selected Publications