Elizabeth F. Loftus

About

Elizabeth F. Loftus is a Distinguished Professor at the University of California, Irvine, affiliated with the School of Social Ecology, the Department of Criminology, Law and Society, and Psychological Science. Her research primarily focuses on human memory, exploring how memories can be altered by post-event information such as facts, ideas, and suggestions. Her experiments have demonstrated that memories are susceptible to modification, which has significant implications for the legal field, where eyewitness testimony and memory play critical roles. Loftus's work extends into the broader fields of psychology and law, emphasizing the importance of understanding the malleability of human memory. She has made substantial contributions to the scientific community through her research, which has been recognized with numerous awards, including the APF Gold Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Science and the William James Award. Her influence is also reflected in her numerous profiles, interviews, and articles in prominent publications, as well as her presentations such as a TED Talk at TEDGlobal 2013. Throughout her career, Loftus has been a leading figure in cognitive psychology, particularly in the study of human memory and its implications for law and society.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Computer Security
• Political Science
• Psychology
• Social psychology
• Cognitive psychology
• Law
• Internet privacy
• Public relations
• Sociology

Selected publications

• Prosocial motives underlie scientific censorship by scientists: A perspective and research agenda

  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2023 · 96 citations

  Science is among humanity's greatest achievements, yet scientific censorship is rarely studied empirically. We explore the social, psychological, and institutional causes and consequences of scientific censorship (defined as actions aimed at obstructing particular scientific ideas from reaching an audience for reasons other than low scientific quality). Popular narratives suggest that scientific censorship is driven by authoritarian officials with dark motives, such as dogmatism and intolerance.…

  PublisherDOI

• Nevertheless, partisanship persisted: fake news warnings help briefly, but bias returns with time

  Cognitive Research Principles and Implications · 2021 · 64 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  Politically oriented "fake news"-false stories or headlines created to support or attack a political position or person-is increasingly being shared and believed on social media. Many online platforms have taken steps to address this by adding a warning label to articles identified as false, but past research has shown mixed evidence for the effectiveness of such labels, and many prior studies have looked only at either short-term impacts or non-political information. This study tested three ver…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Pandemics and infodemics: Research on the effects of misinformation on memory

  Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies · 2020 · 60 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  On social media and in everyday life, people are often exposed to misinformation. Decades of research have shown that exposure to misinformation can have significant impacts on people's thoughts, actions, and memories. During global pandemics like COVID-19, people are likely exposed to heightened quantities of misinformation as they search for and are exposed to copious amounts of information about the disease and its effects. This media environment, with an abundance of both accurate and inaccu…

  DOI

• Cannabis increases susceptibility to false memory

  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2020 · 48 citations

  With the growing global acceptance of cannabis and its widespread use by eyewitnesses and suspects in legal cases, understanding the popular drug's ramifications for memory is a pressing need. In a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial, we examined the acute and delayed effects of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) intoxication on susceptibility to false memory in 64 healthy volunteers. Memory was tested immediately (encoding and retrieval under drug influence) and 1 wk later (retrieval…

  DOI

• The Memory Wars Then and Now: The Contributions of Scott O. Lilienfeld

  Clinical Psychological Science · 2023-02-24 · 32 citations

  articleSenior author

  In this review, honoring Scott O. Lilienfeld, we reflect on key conflicts, controversies, and flash points in the so-called memory wars that have captured headlines, affected legislative action, and influenced civil suits and criminal trials. We trace the memory wars, beginning in the 1990s to the present. From the outset, the memory wars featured debates regarding repressed memories, recollections of trauma, and the hazards of memory recovery therapy, and these disagreements persist today in co…

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Daniel M. Bernstein

  Kwantlen Polytechnic University

  69 shared

• Edith Greene

  42 shared

• Cara Laney

  32 shared

• Maryanne Garry

  30 shared

• Bi Zhu

  Purdue University Fort Wayne

  24 shared

• Deborah Davis

  University of Nevada, Reno

  20 shared

• Henry Otgaar

  Maastricht University

  18 shared

• Lawrence Patihis

  17 shared

Education

• Ph.D.

  Stanford University

Awards & honors

• APF Gold Medal Award for Lifetime Achievement in Science (20…
• William James Award & Acceptance Speech (2001)
• Winner of the AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Award for Online…

Similar researchers at University of California, Irvine

• John R. Hipph-55
• Charis E. Kubrinh-39
• Valerie Jennessh-34