Elizabeth Loftus By Crystal Jazdzewski Elizabeth Parents v

Elizabeth Loftus By: Crystal Jazdzewski

Elizabeth Parents v. Her father is Sidney Fishman. v He was a U. S. Army Physician. v. Her mother is Rebecca Fishman. v She was a librarian. v. Sidney and Rebecca met during World War II. v. Soon after they met, they got married. v Rebecca quit her job as a librarian and became a full time stay at home mom.

Early Life v. Born Elizabeth Fishman, on October 16 th 1944. v. She grew up in Bel Air, California. v. She had two brothers. v. As a child, Elizabeth developed a passion for true and fictionalized crime in books and television. v. She was very good at math. v She thought it was because her father was proficient at it as well. v She said, “Math was the one thing we had in common to talk about, namely him helping me with my math homework. ”

Early Life v. In 1958, when Elizabeth was 14 her mother drowned in a swimming pool. v. In 1961, Loftus’s family house burned down during the Bel Air Fire. It was one of 484 homes that were destroyed in the brush fire. v As soon as she discovered her house was burning down she rushed home. v She said the reason she rushed home was, “because I had homework to do. ” v When she arrived she found her house in flames. She rushed in, and saved her encyclopedias, before going to the neighbors house to call her father.

Education v. Loftus attended UCLA, originally majored in Mathematics. v. In 1966, she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics and Psychology with highest honors. v. She than attended Stanford University Master's Program in August 1966. v Received her MA in 1967 and PH. D in 1970, both in mathematical psychology.

Overcoming Stereotypes At Stanford University v. At this time female graduate student in psychology, especially mathematical psychology was a rare sight to see. v She said she was admitted as the only women in the cohort of young men brought into the mathematical psychology program. v. At one point her colleagues at Stanford voted her least likely to succeed as a psychologist. v They started a pool about when Loftus would return to Los Angeles to pursue a more glamorous profession. v. She overcame all the stereotype threat under which she operated.

Marriage v. In 1968, while attending Stanford, she was made a “big sister. ” v The student that she mentored was named Geoff Loftus. v 3 months into mentoring Geoff, they were engaged. v. The following June they were married. v. Was married from 1968 -1991. v They have remained close colleagues.

Geoff Loftus v. Geoff was born December 24 th, 1945 in Syracuse, NY. v. Attended Brown University. v 1967 received Bachelor's degree in Experimental Psychology. v. Attended Stanford University. v 1971, received Ph. D. in Experimental Psychology v. He is a professor of Psychology at the University of Washington. v Specializes in memory and attention. v Most recent focuses on face perception and hindsight bias.

v. Her doctoral thesis was entitled, “An Analysis of the Structural Variables That Determine Problem -Solving Difficulty on a Computer-Based Teletype. ” v She eventually got this published in 1972. v She was never captivated by computer-assisted instruction. The Start of Her Research v. While she was working on her thesis, she began another project on Semantic Memory.

Semantic Memory Research v. Semantic memory refers to a portion of long-term memory that processes ideas and concepts that are not drawn from personal experience. v Includes: common knowledge such as names of colors, the sounds of letters, the capitals of countries and other basic facts acquired over a lifetime. v. In 1969 Loftus, began a collaborative study with Jonathan Freedman v how people reach into their long-term memory storage and produce appropriate answers to questions. v They measured how rapidly people retrieve concepts from their semantic memory from certain cues. Video: https: //www. psychologicalscience. org/video/elizabeth-loftus-itps. html (8: 15 -8: 55)

v 1973: She moved to Seattle, WA. v She accepted a job to teach as a psychology professor. v The excitement of her Semantic Memory research project began to winding down. v. Former a professor from Stanford had gone to Memory of Witnesses to Accidents The Misinformation Effect work in Washington, D. C. for the U. S. Department of transportation. v He said, “There is money in accidents. ” v She wrote a grant proposal to secure funding for a project studying memories of witnesses to accidents. v. For this study: v They showed films of traffic accidents then quizzed them on what they saw. v They altered the wording of the questions slightly from subject to subject.

Memory of Witnesses to Accidents: The Misinformation Effect v. These Studies showed that the words you use in a question could affect the answer someone gives you. v Not only could wording of a questions have an immediate effect on a witness’s memory, but it could have a long-range effect. v. Early indication leading questions could corrupt eyewitness testimonies. v It could also be done by feeding a witness the version of the event as told by another witness, or by exposing witnesses to mistaken news coverage about a previously seen event.

v. After years spent on the accident study, Loftus wanted to see how they related to real witness of real events. v 1974: Reconstructing Memory: The incredible Eyewitness. v This article included a story about a women who was Memory Problems in the Real World convicted because shot her boyfriend after a violent argument and how psychology played a role in it. v She also included many published studies, including, the “smash” vs. “hit” results. v. Began lecturing every summer at the National Judicial College. v It was a program for state-level judges. v. Consulting for the legal profession and being involved in many controversial court cases as an expert witness.

George Franklin Case v. Early 1990’s unusual court case fell in her lap. v She was asked to consult on a murder case. v. George Franklin had been accused of raping and murdering 8 -year old Susie Nason. v Eileen, Franklins daughter, claimed to have witnessed her father killing Susie in 1969 and repressed the memory for two decades. v. Elizabeth could not find any credible scientific support, to be able to use when testifying in court as the expert witness. v. Franklin was found guilty, after only one day of deliberation, even though there was a lack of support. v. He was the first American citizen to be convicted of murder based on nothing other than allegedly repressed and de-repressed memory.

v. She wanted to know if it was possible to plant entirely false memories into the mind of someone. v. Couldn’t plant memories of sexual abuse by a relative, for ethical reason. v. Finally came up with the idea, of getting lost in a shopping mall. False Memories: Lost In The Mall v Gave assignment to her Cognitive Psychology Class at University of Washington. v. Jim Coan, tried this out on his 14 -year old brother. v Pg. 7

v. Over 20 years after Elizabeth mother's death. v. She was at a get together at her uncle's house and a relative had mentioned to Loftus about her being the one to find her mother in the swimming pool. v. After that moment she started remembering things about finding her mother in the pool. v. Few days later her brother told her that the Elizabeth Own Experience relative got the wrong information, her uncle was actually the one who found her mother in the swimming pool. v. This fueled Elizabeth even more in the battle that she was fighting about memory and how easy It is to create a false memory.

Repercussion to “Lost In The Mall” v 1995: A formal “lost-in-the-mall” study was conducted. v. This study showed how therapy and hypnosis could plant completely false child memories in patients. v. Video: https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=VTF 7 FUAo. GWw v (0: 33 -1: 25) v. People attacked the study before it was even published. v. This prompted other investigators to try to plant false memories of events far more unusual, bizarre, painful, or even traumatic if they had actually happened. v. The Memory War occurred.

Memory Wars v. After this study came out, a lot of people realized it was possible to plant false memories in someone's head. v. She worked on many cases where: v A number of women began to realize that their memories were false and had been planted by psychotherapists which they sued them for malpractice. v Also, where more than a few of the accused parents fought back by suing therapists for planting false memories in the mind of their now adult children. v. She received a lot of hate for her work on the unreliable nature of eyewitness in testimonies and her defining research on how people can develop memories for events that never happened. v Death threats, lawsuits, and personal abuse.

The Law Suit v Loftus took on a case where Jane Doe had accused her mother of abuse when she was a child. v Loftus investigation found it quite possible that no abuse ever took place. v Jane Doe, lodged a complaint. v Loftus was put under a dark cloud of investigation. v She eventually left her job at University of Washington in 2002 and moved to Southern California for a job at the University of California-Irvine. v Loftus had published an expose of the case. v In 2003, Jane Doe then filed a lawsuit for invasion of privacy and defamation, even though when Loftus had talked about this case she had never used her name v Video: https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=PB 2 Oeg. I 6 wv. I v 11: 00 -14: 00

v. With all the hate, harassment, and everything going on she couldn't help but think, is this all worth it? v She couldn't ever seem to stop lecturing, publishing, or presenting research evidence in lawsuits involving innocent people. v She said, "Pursuit of truth and knowledge is too important for a democratic society, no matter whether the truth is controversial or just plain ordinary. " v. When she needed reassurance, she turns to a "When. Blue" folder she labelled, "When. Blue. " v Its filled with letters of gratitude from accused people. v "it's my place to go when I need to be reminded that I'm on the right track. "

Where is she today? v. Loftus has never remarried, all her focus is her work. v. She currently still works at the University of California-Irvine. v Distinguished professor of Social Ecology v Loftus is also a Professor of Law, and of Cognitive Science in the Departments of Psychology and Social Behavior. v Director of The Center for Psychology and Law. v. She doesn't do any expert witness testimonies anymore. v. Loftus is still coming up with more research and talking about the research that she has already done.

Discussion Questions v. Do you think a repressed memory, that someone recovers years later could possibly be 100% truthful? (Even given the evidence about false memories) And why? v. Why do you think Loftus was getting so much hate about her work on the unreliable nature of eyewitness in testimonies and her defining research on how people can develop memories for events that never happened? Do you think she could've done anything differently to not receive the hate? v. Do you think the Memory War is still going on today? Why/Why not?