Elizabeth Loftus

Elizabeth F. Loftus (1944) is a psychologist who works on human memory and how it can be changed by facts, ideas, suggestions and other forms of post-event information. Her work is controversial, and has much direct application in law and other fields.

One of her famous studies include the "car accident" study, which was an example of the misinformation effect. She is also famous for developing the Lost in the mall technique for creating false memories in the laboratory.

She is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Psychology and Social Behavior, the Department of Criminology, Law, and Society, and the Department of Cognitive Sciences, and a Fellow of The Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory at the University of California, Irvine. She is also an Affiliate Professor of Psychology and Affiliate Professor of Law at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Dr. Loftus received her bachelor's degree in mathematics and psychology from UCLA in 1966. She went on to receive her MA ('67) and Ph.D in psychology ('70) both from Stanford University.

Loftus is also a member of the FMSF (False Memory Syndrome Foundation) Scientific and Professional Advisory Board, as well as being newly elected as a member of the National Academy of Sciences and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is past president of the American Psychological Society.

Loftus has acted as an expert witness in hundreds of sexual and Satanic ritual abuse cases throughout the USA, typically for the defense.

Books

 * Eyewitness Testimony (1979) ISBN 0674287770
 * Witness for the Defense:The Accused, the Eyewitness and the Expert Who Puts Memory on Trial  (1991) ISBN 0312084552
 * The Myth of Repressed Memory : False Memories and Allegations of Sexual Abuse  (1994) ISBN 0312141238