Elizabeth Loftus: Biography, Honors and Awards, Honorary Degrees, Publications, and a List of Books by Author Elizabeth Loftus

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Elizabeth F. Loftus is an American psychologist and expert on human memory. She has conducted extensive research on the misinformation effect and the nature of false memories. Loftus has been recognized throughout the world for her work, receiving numerous awards and honorary degrees. In 2002, Loftus was 58th in a list of the 100 most influential researchers in psychology in the 20th century, and the highest ranked woman on the list.

Biography more less

Honors and Awards more less

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Loftus has also received six honorary doctorates for her research, the first in 1982 from Miami University, the second in 1990 from Leiden University in the Netherlands, and the third in 1994 from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York - an honorary doctorate of laws. Her fourth honorary doctorate, from the University of Portsmouth in England, was awarded in 1998; the fifth, from the University of Haifa in Israel, was awarded in 2005. Her sixth, from the University of Oslo, was awarded in 2008.

Career

Loftus is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Psychology and Social Behavior, the Department of Criminology, Law, and Society, and the Department of Cognitive Sciences, and a Fellow of The Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory at the University of California, Irvine. She is also Professor of Law.

One of her studies is the reconstruction of automobile destruction study, which is an example of the misinformation effect. She also developed the lost in the mall technique as a method of testing her hypothesis that false memories can be clinically created. Her pilot study of the lost in the mall technique has been criticized for the ethics used in acquiring subjects and for being used to draw inappropriate conclusions about false memories and therapeutic techniques. Loftus published a rebuttal to these criticisms by pointing out the variety of errors, exaggerations and omissions regarding the research that may represent a deliberate attempt to distort her work, and stated that the criticisms appeared to be based on personal animosity rather than a valid understanding of the research. Loftus also pointed out that the study design and findings had been replicated repeatedly, demonstrating the soundness of the conclusions. Regarding the ethics of the creation of the study, Loftus stated that it was primarily a colleague who "piloted" the study with his daughter, and later revisited the idea as part of an undergraduate class she was teaching, and emphasized that participants demonstrated no adverse effects upon follow-up.

Loftus has also been involved in the trials of Ted Bundy, O. J. Simpson, the Hillside Stranglers, and the McMartin preschool trial workers. Loftus is a member of the Scientific and Professional Advisory Board of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation.

Testimony in Scooter Libby trial

On October 26, 2006, Loftus was called as the first defense witness in a pretrial hearing in the federal perjury case against Presidential aide Lewis Libby. Under cross-examination by Patrick Fitzgerald, Loftus struggled to explain her research and apparent contradictions between her testimony and her work, also stating that based on comments by her peers and even her own work that there were limitations in her methods and conclusions.

Harassment related to research

After criticizing the theory of recovered memory and testifying about the nature of memory and false allegations of child sexual abuse as part of the day care sex abuse hysteria, Loftus was subject to on-line harassment by Diana Napolis. A conspiracy theorist, Napolis believed Loftus was engaged in satanic ritual abuse or assisted in covering up these crimes as part of a larger conspiracy. After addressing a scientific conference in New Zealand, Loftus was accosted by a group of protesters who alleged she had abused children, in part basing their accusations on Napolis' web postings.

Jane Doe case

Loftus and the University of Washington were sued in 2003 by Nicole Taus regarding a 2002 publication which questioned the use Taus as a case study regarding the accuracy of repressed and recovered memories. The suit involved allegations of invasion of privacy and other torts, and resulted in twenty of the twenty-one counts against Loftus being dismissed as a "strategic lawsuit against public participation". In February, 2007, the Supreme Court of California dismissed all counts but Taus's claim that Loftus misrepresented herself as Corwin's supervisor in interviewing Taus's foster mother. The case was settled in August, 2007 when Loftus' insurance company agreed to a nuisance settlement of $7,500 rather than cover the cost of a trial, and both paid their own legal costs. In November, 2007 Taus was required to pay $246,000 to others she had sued.

Loftus published her own analysis of the case in 2009.