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Renowned psychologist joins UCI
She is noted for rebutting ‘myth’ of repressed sex-abuse memories.
Orange County Register, Aug. 24, 2002
http://www.ocregister.com/news/loftus00824cci2.shtml
By GARY ROBBINS
IRVINE — A forensic memory expert ranked among the 100 most eminent psychologists of the 20th century is heading to the University of California, Irvine, burnishing the school’s already strong programs in criminology and social behavior.
Elizabeth Loftus, 57, is coming to UCI from the University of Washington, where she became embroiled in a lengthy battle with campus administrators over an issue that involves one of her specialties, the reliability of repressed sexual- abuse memories.
The university investigated whether Loftus committed ethical violations against a human subject as she examined the accuracy of the evidence in an alleged sexual-abuse case involving a person known only as “Jane Doe.”
The university exonerated Loftus.
But the incident so angered her that she accepted a position at UCI, which recruited her.
She will hold the title of distinguished professor, the highest honor the faculty confers upon one of its own.
“I’m coming to Irvine because it has fabulous people who work at the intersection of law and social science, not to mention the great research UCI does in memory,” said Loftus, who chose UCI after turning down earlier offers from such better-known schools as Emory University in Atlanta and Washington University in St. Louis.
Loftus, who will earn $155,000 a year at UCI, is a pioneer in “repressed memory” research.
Her work helped prove that in some cases, people believe they experienced events that never occurred.
Much of that work involved repressed memories of alleged sexual abuse.
Her research also showed that eyewitness accounts, notably those given in court, often are inaccurate.
“Once memories are stored, they can change or be contaminated as a result of things people are told, or new experiences or exposure to media coverage,” said Loftus, who wrote the book “Eyewitness Testimony,” which won the National Media Award.
She also co-authored the widely cited book “The Myth of Repressed Memory: False Memories and Allegations of Sexual Abuse.”
Loftus also has served as an expert witness or consultant in some of the nation’s most high-profile trials, ranging from the McMartin Preschool molestation case to the “Hillside strangler” case to the defense of the police officers charged in the Rodney King beating.
Her legal work, primarily on the defense side, has earned her nationwide fame.
But she’s known internationally in academia for the breadth and depth of her research and writing. In April, the Review of General Psychology ranked her 58th among the top 100 psychologists of the 20th century. The list includes such luminaries as Sigmund Freud and B.F. Skinner. Loftus was the top-ranked woman on the list.
She also ranked among the 25 psychologists most frequently cited in introductory psychology textbooks.
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