Elizabeth Loftus is an American cognitive psychologist and expert on human memory, best known for demonstrating the misinformation effect, the finding that a witness's memory of an event can be altered by information encountered after the fact. Her research on the reliability and malleability of eyewitness testimony and recovered memories has made her one of the most cited psychologists of the twentieth century and a frequent expert witness in criminal trials.
Facts
Nationality / Culture Defining ContributionDemonstrated the misinformation effect: in a 1974 study with John Palmer, the verb used to ask about a car collision ('smashed' versus 'hit') changed witnesses' subsequent speed estimates and their memory of whether broken glass had been present, showing that questions asked after an event can reconstruct a witness's memory of it. 1 Notable WorkThe Myth of Repressed Memory: False Memories and Allegations of Sexual Abuse (1994) 1 Notable WorkWitness for the Defense (1991) 1 Connections
Associated With
Source Wikipedia: Elizabeth Loftus
Her eyewitness-memory research is central to criminal psychology's work on testimony reliability.
Loftus's eyewitness memory research demonstrated that post-event information can distort eyewitness recollection.
Loftus's misinformation-effect research established that false memories can be implanted through suggestive post-event questioning.
Loftus's work on implanted and recovered memories is central to the false memory syndrome debate.
Conducted foundational research on memory suggestibility beginning in the 1970s, showing that post-event question wording could alter eyewitness recollection.
In Branch
Source Wikipedia: Elizabeth Loftus
Studies Conducted
Theories and Concepts Developed
Source Wikipedia: Misinformation Effect
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Elizabeth Loftus
Wikimedia FoundationLead section
American psychologist who is best known in relation to the misinformation effect, false memory and criticism of recovered memory therapies.
infobox
Elizabeth Fishman (1944-10-16) October 16, 1944 (age 81) Bel Air, California, U.S.
Findings, Loftus-Palmer 1974 study
These results are consistent with the view that the questions asked subsequent to an event can cause a reconstruction in one's memory of that event.
Bibliography
Loftus, Elizabeth; Ketcham, Katherine (June 25, 2013). The Myth of Repressed Memory: False Memories and Allegations of Sexual Abuse. St. Martin's Publishing Group.
Associated With: Cognitive Psychology, Lead paragraph
American cognitive psychologist
In Branch: Forensic Psychology, Career section (forensic applications)
She shifted from laboratory work to using 'real world' situations of criminal court cases.
Wikipedia: Misinformation Effect
Wikimedia FoundationTheories and Concepts Developed: Misinformation Effect
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.