- Elizabeth Loftus is an American cognitive psychologist. Best known for making psychological science more influential in the real world; she is responsible for changing how the police and courts deal with eyewitness testimonies. Currently, she works in the departments of Psychology and Social Behaviour, Criminology, Law and Society. She is also a colleague in the Centre for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory.
Early life
Loftus was born on 16th October 1944 in Los Angeles to parents, Rebecca and Sidney Fishman. She grew up in a Jewish family in Bel Air. Even though the family was not religious, she took a day off school every year for Yom Kippur. Her parents met in World War II; her father was a U.S. Army physician and her mother was a librarian. Both Loftus and her father were proficient in mathematics, “that was the one thing we had in common to talk about”, she states. As an adolescent, Loftus became interested in crime books and television.
Loftus dealt with several tragedies in her childhood. On 10th July 1959 Rebecca Fishman drowned in a swimming pool; Loftus was only 14 years old. Decades after the sad passing of Rebecca, Loftus attended a 90th birthday of one of her uncles. At this event, she was told by a relative that she was the one who found her mother’s body. Of course, Loftus was initially reluctant to consider this was true, however she gradually began to visualise and remember more details. In one interview she reported, “I started to think maybe it really did happen. I started to make sense of other facts that I did remember in light of this news.” A week later she received a call from the same relative claiming that a mistake was made; Loftus was not the one who found her mother’s body. Loftus claims that this is a real example of how we can start to believe what someone convincingly tells you.
Personal life
During the second year of graduate school, Elizabeth Loftus was assigned a graduate student mentee, Geoffrey Loftus. They got engaged three months after they met and married in June 1968.
Geoffrey’s father died when the couple reached their mid-30s. After the passing of his father, Geoffrey decided that he wanted children. They tried and Elizabeth Loftus underwent surgery. When that did not work, they gave up trying. The couple divorced in 1991; their inability to have children was believed to be a factor of the divorce. Despite the divorce, there is still a connection between them. They remain close friends.
Education
At the age of 18, Loftus began her studies in the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as a mathematics major. However, her love for equations soon faded. Whilst studying at university she took psychology classes which she enjoyed very much. This broadened her academic interests. In 1966 she graduated with a double honour in BA mathematics and psychology.
In August of 1966 Loftus enrolled at Stanford University to study mathematical psychology. At that time female graduate students in mathematical psychology were uncommon; she was the only woman in a cohort of young men. Loftus recalled only one female professor in the entire department, Eleanor Maccoby.
Loftus was a stylish youth with high cheekbones, long dark hair and tailored business suits; she resembled a Hollywood portrayal of an assistant district attorney. She was talkative and talented but did not engage in mathematical theories; she stated that “it was tedious work, no doubt about it”. Rather, she wanted to focus on intellectual puzzles which had theoretical implications for the real world. Fellow students were confused by her behaviour and voted her least likely to become a psychologist in an unofficial survey. Many believed Loftus would drop out of graduate school and succeed in a more glamorous role. She did not give in to her doubters and received her MA in 1967.
In Stanford University Loftus carried out her Ph.D. training with Patrick Suppes. In her final year, Loftus began working with a social psychologist, Jonathan Freedman, on the problem of memory organisation. She was able to investigate her own research questions for the first time. They measured how quickly answers could be retrieved to questions posed to an individual’s long-term, semantic memory. Loftus flourished in this field of Psychology and received a Ph.D. in 1970.
Career
As Loftus neared completion of her dissertation she accepted her first job as a cognitive psychologist in the New School for Social Research in New York City. There were several benefits to holding this position. Firstly, Loftus was able to continue her collaborative research on semantic information in long-term memory with Jonathan Freedman. Secondly, her husband at the time, Geoffrey Loftus, obtained a postdoctoral fellowship with George Sperling at New York University. However, fellowships and jobs kept the couple apart; they lived in separate apartments. It was a challenge for the married professionals to find two jobs in the same geographical area.
Geoffrey landed a position in the University of Washington and a year later Elizabeth turned down a job at Harvard to follow him there. The enthusiasm Elizabeth had for the research project began to fade; she wanted to research an area with greater social relevance.
The misinformation effect
An opportunity arose from the U.S. Department of Transportation; they granted her money to carry out research involving motor vehicle accidents. Loftus set forth to conduct an experiment studying how post-event information could interfere with our memories. She showed films depicting automobile accidents and asked participants about events that did and did not occur in the film. Participants were asked ‘Did you see a broken headlight?’ or ‘Did you see the broken headlight?’. Loftus found that people were more inclined to ‘remember’ the broken headlight than a broken headlight. This shows that a definite article (‘the’) results in a greater number of false recognitions. In addition, participants gave higher estimates of speed when asked ‘how fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?’ in comparison to questions that used more neutral verbs such as bumped or hit.
Loftus published two articles indicating how easily eyewitnesses’ reports could be modified through subtle changes in the wording of questions. Loftus believed that eyewitness testimony alone is not enough to convict a person. The national response to these articles allowed Loftus to move forward as an expert witness in legal court cases.
Whilst Loftus was promoting a paradigm shift in our understanding of human memory, she was also assembling the foundations of a revolution in the field of law. She began consulting with lawyers and attending courtroom trials. In 1974, Loftus supported a public defender in a murder trial. She claimed that the eyewitness testimonies were conflicting; her findings on memory distortion were utilised in his case. The defendant was released. Loftus summarised this case in Psychology Today and immediately legal experts became interested in her work.
Loftus began to speak at legal education seminars; she provided Washington states’ first ever expert testimony about eyewitness identification. Since then Loftus has shared her expertise in several cases; this includes the McMartin preschool case, the Bosnian War trials in the Hague, the Oklahoma Bombing case, Ted Bundy and O.J. Simpson.
Repressed memories
Loftus described the following case in the book titled ‘The Myth of Repressed Memory’. In 1989, George Franklin was arrested for the murder of Susan Nason. The only evidence against him was his daughter’s repressed memory.
The daughter, Eileen Franklin, reported the astonishing details on a playful outing that ended in rape and murder. She describes her best friend, eight-year-old Susan Nason, sitting on a rock in a wooded setting. Behind her, a man held a heavy rock above his head. Susan glanced at Eileen; seconds later, the man’s arms came down with tremendous force. The rock crushed Susan’s skull. The flashback revealed the truth. Susan Nason was murdered by George Franklin, Eileen’s father.
In late 1990, when the trial was under way, Loftus received a telephone call from Franklin’s attorney, Doug Horngrad. He asked if she would be willing to testify as an expert witness in the case. Loftus believed that this was the most bizarre story she had ever encountered. She questioned where the evidence was; this case rested solely on the credibility of a women’s memory. Loftus stated that “Eileen's story is her truth, but I believe it is a truth that never happened”. In court Loftus highlighted the malleability of human memory to the jury; she indicated that weakened memories are increasingly vulnerable to post event information. Loftus suggested that Eileen Franklin’s report may not be reliable. Nevertheless, Franklin was convicted of Nason’s murder later that month.
Five years later, Eileen revealed that hypnotherapy was triggering her flashbacks. While she was under hypnosis, she had visualised her father killing Susan Nason. According to Loftus, memories were being created by highly suggestive psychotherapy procedures. Since Franklin’s imprisonment was dependent on his daughter’s eyewitness testimony, the judge overturned his conviction; Franklin was freed.
After consulting on this case Loftus became intrigued by the controversy surrounding repressed and allegedly false memories; she took it as a personal challenge to study this phenomenon. Loftus and a graduate student, Jacqueline Pickrell conducted a study. They presented participants with four stories from when they were between 4 and 6 years old: three true stories and one false story. The false story involved an imaginary incident where the child got lost in a shopping mall. Each participant was sent a written description of the four events; they were asked to write down which details they remembered. Soon after, they were interviewed about their recollections. Loftus found that 20% of the participants would accept the false memories as their own. In a few cases, participants would embellish the memories and make them more vivid when recounting them, much like in cases of repressed memories. Some critics quickly dismissed her findings.
Criticism
Loftus continues to receive intense criticism since she testifies on the side of the defence. Loftus claims that “whenever you work in an area that challenges people’s wrongheaded, cherished beliefs, it can be difficult. But sometimes it can also be a matter of life and death.” Loftus has received hate mail and death threats. She endured a campaign to have her sacked from the University of Washington when she became involved in Jane Doe’s legal case.
When she started speaking out about repressed memories, she never imagined that she would become the target of relentless harassment. After battling with a fair number of critics, Loftus is currently helping other scientists deal with abusive campaigns. She says “we can’t let the bullies win … somebody has to stand up”. Loftus believes that today’s world for science is a dangerous one. She advises that future scientists should speak out "against even the most cherished beliefs that reflect unsubstantiated myths."
Achievements
Loftus has published 27 books and over 400 scientific papers. The Myth of Repressed Memory (co-authored with Katherine Ketcham) is one of her most widely read books. Her fourth book, Eyewitness Testimony, won a National Media Award from the American Psychological Foundation. 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; she was the highest ranked woman on the list.
What can we learn from Loftus?
Loftus has the drive and stamina that allows her to rise to challenges. Despite the criticism she has received she never considered leaving the field of Psychology. She continued to lecture at psychology conferences, law school forums while writing books and continuing her production of research articles. Her productivity is amazing; this demonstrates a true passion for the work she does.
Loftus will always be remembered by future generations not only as an insightful scientist, but also as an advocate for social change within the courtroom.
- Why we started "Their Lives"
- https://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/elizabeth-loftus-1-sjbn/
- https://www.wired.co.uk/article/false-memory-syndrome-false-confessions-memories
- Professor Elizabeth Loftus, Do Justice and Let the Sky Fall - The Good Men Project
- False memories and false confessions: the psychology of imagined crimes
- https://www.aapss.org/fellow/elizabeth-loftus/
- http://personal.kent.edu/~mzaragoz/publications/Zaragoza%20chapter%204%20Garry%20Hayne.pdf
- https://faculty.washington.edu/gloftus/Downloads/BethChapter.pdf
- Inside the Psychologist’s Studio: The Road Taken
There was an obvious reason for beginning this podcast "Their Lives." We want to hopefully achieve three things:
1. Allow for our older generations to inspire our younger generations with their stories
2. To give our older generations a platform to collectively reminisce
3. To entertain our audience but most importantly send them on their way with lessons that they can practically use during these difficult times.
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Our Top 100 over 70
We have begun counting down our top 100 inspiring people over 70 to celebrate the wisdom of those who have taught us so much and brought so much knowledge to the world. You can check out some of our latest blogs here.
#100 Elizabeth Loftus
#99 Andrew Lloyd Webber
Other Episodes:
Episode 1 with David Berglas MBE
Episode 2 with Joy Wolfe MBE
Episode 3 with David Busse
Episode 4 with Moustapha Diouf
We'd recommend taking a look at some amazing resources online if you're interested in learning more about Elizabeth Loftus:
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