Elizabeth Loftus Career and Biography

Elizabeth Loftus Career and Biography History and Biographies Print Elizabeth Loftus Biography Memory Expert By Kendra Cherry facebook twitter Kendra Cherry, MS, is an author, educational consultant, and speaker focused on helping students learn about psychology. Learn about our editorial policy Kendra Cherry Updated on February 24, 2020 Jodi Hilton / Stringer / Getty Images More in Psychology History and Biographies Psychotherapy Basics Student Resources Theories Phobias Emotions Sleep and Dreaming Eyewitnesses who point their finger at innocent defendants are not liars, for they genuinely believe in the truth of their testimony....Thats the frightening partâ€"the truly horrifying idea that what we think we know, what we believe with all our hearts, is not necessarily the truth.â€"Elizabeth Loftus, Psychology Today, 1996?? 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 memoryEyewitness memoryMisinformation effectExplanations for forgetting Early Life 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.?? She graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1966 with a bachelors degree in mathematics and psychology. She went on to attend graduate school at Stanford University and earned her MA in 1967 and her Ph.D. in 1970, both in mathematical psychology.?? Career Loftuss 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 of television programs, including 60 Minutes and Oprah. She has testified at many trials, including those of accused child-murderer George Franklin and serial killer Ted Bundy.?? Personal Experience With Memory Loftus has close experience with the frailty and fallibility of human memory. At a family gathering for her 44th birthday, Loftuss uncle told her that she had been the one to find her mothers body floating in the pool after a drowning accident. Before that, she had remembered very little about the incident, but after her uncles comment, the details suddenly began to come back.?? A few days later, she discovered that her uncle had been mistaken and that it was actually her aunt who discovered her mother after the drowning. All it took to trigger false memories was a simple comment from a family member, illustrating how easily human memory can be influenced by suggestion.?? Awards and Recognition Elizabeth Loftus has received a variety of awards and recognition for her work, including:?? 1995 â€" Distinguished Contribution Award from the American Academy of Forensic Psychology 2003 â€" APA Distinguished Scientific Award for Applications of Psychology 2003 â€" Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 2005 â€" Grawemeyer Prize in Psychology 2005 â€" Elected to the Royal Society in Edinburgh 2005 â€" Lauds and Laurels Faculty Achievement Award, University of California, Irvine 2009 â€" Distinguished Contributions to Psychology and Law Award from the American Psychology-Law Society 2010 â€" Warren Medal from the Society of Experimental Psychologists 2010  â€"  Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award from the  American Association for the Advancement of Science 2012  â€"  William T. Rossiter Award from the  Forensic Mental Health Association of California?? 2013   â€" Gold Medal Award for Life Achievement in the Science of Psychology from the American Psychological Foundation??   Contributions to Psychology Loftuss 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.?? 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. Selected Publications Elizabeth Loftus has published many articles and books, including:?? Loftus, E.F. (1975). Leading questions and the eyewitness report. Cognitive Psychology, 7, 560â€"572?? . Loftus, G.R. Loftus, E.F.  (1976). Human Memory: The Processing of Information. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum Associates.?? Loftus, E.F. Doyle, J. (1987). Eyewitness Testimony: Civil and Criminal. NY: Kluwer.?? Loftus, E.F.; Hoffman, H.G. (1989). Misinformation and memory: The creation of memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 118, 100â€"104. Loftus, E.F., Doyle, J.M. Dysert, J. (2008). Eyewitness testimony: Civil Criminal, 4th edition. Charlottesville, Va: Lexis Law Publishing.??