Profile of Elizabeth Loftus
Profile of Elizabeth Loftus
Background
Elizabeth Loftus was born in Bel Air, California, in 1944 (Zagorski, 2005). In her childhood, she developed a passion for fiction and true crime in books and television. In 1962, Loftus enrolled at the University of California to study psychology and mathematics. In August 1966, Elizabeth Loftus arrived at Stanford University, Stanford, California. She enrolled as a graduate student in psychology with specialization in mathematical psychology. She did her PhD at the same University. She is a distinguished professor at the University of California where she is the leading psychologist in the study of memory.
Contribution to the Field of Psychology
Elizabeth Loftus has contributed significantly to science, law, and academic freedom (Goodwin, 2010). She is an expert on the psychology of human memory. She is popular for her work on the Misinformation Effect. The Misinformation Effect defines how a person’s memory may be distorted by what he is told. She demonstrated this concept through a study where participants viewed footage of an automobile accident, and, afterwards, asked to estimate the collision’s speed. Responses varied in proportion to the intensity of the verb used to describe the accident. For instance, the subjects gave higher estimates of speed when the researchers asked the speed, at which the cars were moving when they “smashed” at each other, rather than when the verb “smashed” was replaced with a lower intensity verb “hit”. According to Loftus (1996), the Misinformation effect may create false memories.
Elizabeth Loftus demonstrated that false memories may be caused by means of suggestion. She demonstrated this through the “Lost in the Mall Technique” where children were asked to if they remembered the event where they got lost in a mall. Most of the children studied, had never experienced getting lost in a mall, but many responded that they remembered the event, with some even providing details of the event. According to Loftus, upon being told of the event, children imagined it, thus causing a false memory where an imagined event was confused with a real event.
Elizabeth Loftus has contributed significantly to the practice of law through her work on the “eyewitness testimony” (Hayne & Garry, 2007). She demonstrated that several factors affect a witness’ ability to report accurately both event-related and witness-related. Event factors include exposure time, frequency, detail salience, and violence of the event. Witness factors include stress and expectations. These factors must be considered in the analysis of eye witness testimonies.
Acknowledgements and Criticism
The nature of Loftus’ current and previous research is sensitive, and, as such, she has faced a fair share of criticism (Zagorski, 2005). In the eyewitness testimony research, she engaged numerous intellectual debates, as regards whether memories are permanent or eventually destroyed. Loftus had many critics; however, she had many supporters, as well. In 2002, her work was recognized in a Review of General Psychology report ranking the 100 most influential psychologists of the 21st century.
References
Goodwin, C. (2010). “Research in Psychology and Design”. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Hayne, H. & Garry, M. (2007). “Do Justice and Let the Sky Fall”. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Loftus, E. (1996). “Eyewitness Testimony”. New York, NY: Harvard University Press.
Zagorski, N. (2005). “Profile of Elizabeth F. Loftus”. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 102(39): 13721-13723
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