Dr Elizabeth Loftus explains what false memories are, and how people can cling to them, despite evidence to the contrary.
Course Overview
Dr Elizabeth Loftus tells Eve Ash that false memories can be distortions of an event, or an entire event that didn’t happen. False memories can be planted, through suggestions, verbal cues, leading questions or coaching. Memories are not the same as video or audio recordings. Surveys done by Dr Loftus on memory show that people cling to false memories even when scientific evidence dispels them.
Key Learning Points
False memories can be:
• A distortion of a detail of an event that might have happened
• An entire event that didn’t happen
• Planted (suggested) in ordinary people
• Fallible
• Cause people to cling to the false message rather than accept the truth
Interviewer: Eve Ash
Interviewee: Elizabeth Loftus
