The Malleability of Memory: A Conversation with Elizabeth Loftus

by Elizabeth F. Loftus

Elizabeth discusses her ground-breaking work and highly socially relevant work on the misinformation effect, false memories and her battles with "repressed memory" advocates.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction

69 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 17, 2014

About the author

Elizabeth F. Loftus is an American cognitive psychologist and expert on human memory. She has conducted extensive research on the malleability of human memory. As well as her prolific work inside the laboratory, Loftus has been heavily involved in applying her research to legal settings; she has consulted or provided expert witness testimony for hundreds of cases. Loftus has been recognized throughout the world for her work, receiving numerous awards and honorary degrees. In 2002, Loftus was ranked 58th in the Review of General Psychology’s list of the 100 most influential psychological researchers of the 20th century, and was the highest ranked woman on the list.

Appeared on TED in June 2013
http://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_lo...

Loftus received her Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics and psychology with highest honors from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1966. She received her MA in 1967 and Ph.D in 1970 (both in mathematical psychology and both from Stanford University). She has taught at many universities, including the University of California at Irvine and the University of Washington. Loftus has been the president of the Association for Psychological Science (1998–99), the Western Psychological Association (1984, 2004-5), and the American Psychology-Law Society.

Reviews

[Vonia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Elizabeth Loftus is the best in her field. Here, she explains the basics of how capricious our memories are, why we cannot depend on them & the various ways in which we have (are also likely to continue to) convinced ourselves otherwise. Detailed research has gone into this which might be of interest to readers, as it is not provided here. An admirable Professor at The University Of California, Elizabeth Loftus is an asset to the study of memory & the neurosciences!!!!....

[Geoffrey Sutton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A helpful as summary of Loftus work presented in a question and answer format. I'd recommend this for students and those interested in human memory.