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Elizabeth Loftus
– A Brief History of the False Memory Research of Elizabeth Loftus
– Ethics Complaints Filed Against FMSF Board Member Elizabeth Loftus
– “Lost in a Shopping Mall” A Breach of Professional Ethics
– Quotes: Elizabeth Loftus, Ph.D.
– The Alleged Ethical Violations of Elizabeth Loftus in the Case of Jane Doe
The lost- in- a-shopping-mall study (Loftus and Pickrell, 1995)
provided initial scientific support for the claim that child sexual
abuse accusations are false memories planted by therapists. However, the
mall study researchers faced a problem early on—the participants could
tell the difference between the true and false memories….
1993 – The first indication the study might not live up to the challenge
became public in 1993. Coan reported in his honors thesis that six
subjects had completed the study, and “all subjects were able to
correctly identify the false memory.” (Coan, 1993, p. 16.)….
1995 – In June, evidence of possible research misconduct in an
earlier study was reported in a journal of the American Psychological
Association. Koss, Tromp and Tharan (1995, p. 120) demonstrated that the
data in Loftus and Burns (1982, p. 320) did not support the authors’
claim that “those who saw the mentally shocking version showed poorer
retention of the details of the films” (Loftus and Burns, p. 318).
Instead, the data indicated poorer retention for one unimportant detail.
(See:
https://webfiles.uci.edu/eloftus/LoftusBurns_MemoryCog82.pdf?uniq=13yvu9
Ethics Complaints Filed Against FMSF Board Member Elizabeth Loftus
American Psychological Association Declines to Investigate
Journal article by Treating Abuse Today
http://www.astraeasweb.net/politics/loftus.html
In December 1995, two women filed ethics complaints with the
American Psychological Association (APA) against Elizabeth Loftus, PhD,
regarding her published statements about two legal cases involving
delayed memories of sexual abuse. Citing procedural considerations,
however, the APA has declined to investigate the women’s ethics
complaints.
Jennifer Hoult (a concert harpist living in New York) and Lynn Crook
(a Washington State consultant) each filed separate complaints with the
APA, alleging that Loftus mischaracterized the facts of their legal
cases in published articles. Both women brought successful civil suits
because of the sexual abuse that the fathers (and the mother, in Crook’s
case) perpetrated against them during their childhoods. At their
trials, they presented corroborative evidence that met the requirements
for judicial proof of their allegations.
Loftus serves on the Scientific and Professional Advisory Board of
the False Memory Syndrome Foundation, Inc (FMSF). She also had been an
active member of the APA since 1973, but she resigned in January 1996,
shortly after the filing of the complaints. In a brief telephone
interview with Treating Abuse Today, Loftus confirmed her resignation
from the APA, but she denied any knowledge of the ethics complaints. She
also cautioned that Treating Abuse Today should not state or imply that
she resigned from the APA to avoid investigation of the ethics
complaints…..
In her complaint, Hoult alleges that Loftus used distortion and
misstatement of fact to seriously misrepresent Hoult’s legal case. In
1988 Hoult brought a civil suit against her father, alleging that he had
raped and otherwise sexually abused her throughout her childhood. After
several years of legal wrangling, the case finally went to trial in
June 1993. On July 1, 1993, the jury returned a verdict in favor of
Jennifer Hoult, awarding her $500,000 for the suffering caused by her
father’s incestuous abuse. All higher courts have upheld the jury’s
decision, including the first circuit appellate court. When Hoult’s
father petitioned the US Supreme Court, his petition was rejected as
untimely. At some point during all these proceedings, Hoult’s father
joined the FMSF…..
Hoult also alleges that Loftus used mischaracterization and omission
of facts to misconstrue Hoult’s legal case against her father. She
pointed out many inaccuracies that support this allegation. In the
article, for instance, Loftus claims that “Jennifer was a 23-year-old
musician who recovered memories in therapy of her father raping her from
the time she was 4” (1995, p. 26). Actually, Hoult began to remember
the abuse at 24, at which time she was an artificial intelligence
software engineer. Records in the case show that the bulk of her
memories emerged outside of therapy. Furthermore, Hoult never stated
that the rapes began when she was four, a “fact” apparently created by
Loftus for the purposes of her article….
In October 1991, Lynn Crook brought a civil suit against her parents
based on her delayed memories of childhood sexual abuse perpetrated by
her parents. Loftus testified as an expert witness for the defense. On
March 4, 1994, the judge in the case ruled in Crook’s favor, awarding
her $149,580 in damages against her parents, who chose not to appeal the
case to any higher court.
In the January/February 1995 issue of PSYCHOLOGY TODAY, Jill Neimark
published an article titled “It’s Magical. It’s Malleable. It’s . . .
Memory.” In her article, Neimark quotes Loftus, who gives an abridged
and (according to Crook) seriously distorted account of her case against
her father….
In an interview with Treating Abuse Today, Crook stated that
Loftus’s 79-word direct quote describing her case contained nine
misstatements. “Loftus reworded events I recalled, and incorrectly
claimed that a ‘fantastical’ memory had resulted in my filing this
case.” Crook pointed out, for instance, that Loftus contradicted her
father’s own sworn testimony that his health was “excellent.” Crook also
argues that Loftus should have pointed out that she (Crook) won the
case, after presenting evidence that included testimony from two of her
sisters who also remembered incestuous abuse perpetrated against them by
their father….
In May, David Corwin and Erna Olafson published a case study of a
videotaped, spontaneously-recovered memory of child sexual abuse (Corwin
and Olafson, 1997). The videotape provided evidence to suggest that a
repressed memory of childhood abuse could be recalled. (See
http://data.memberclicks.com/site/apsac/jane_doe.pdf). Loftus hired
Shapiro Investigations to assist in the investigation, and travelled to
California to interview Doe’s family members, allegedly introducing
herself as the supervisor of David Corwin whom Jane Doe knew and
trusted. In 1999, Jane Doe filed an ethics complaint against Loftus with
the University of Washington. In July 2001, the University completed a
20-month investigation during which Loftus was not allowed to discuss
the case. The University required Loftus to complete an ethics course
and to restrict her relationship with Jane Doe’s mother….
“Lost in a Shopping Mall” A Breach of Professional Ethics
ETHICS & BEHAVIOR, vol. 9, #1, pp. 39-50
http://users.owt.com/crook/memory/
Lynn S. Crook
Richland, WA
Martha C. Dean
Sydney, Australia
ABSTRACT: The “lost in a shopping mall” study has been cited to support
claims that psychotherapists can implant memories of false
autobiographical information of childhood trauma in their patients. The
mall study originated in 1991 as 5 pilot experiments involving 3
children and 2 adult participants. The University of Washington Human
Subjects Committee granted approval for the mall study on August 10,
1992. The preliminary results with the 5 pilot subjects were announced 4
days later. An analysis of the mall study shows that beyond the
external misrepresentations, internal scientific methodological errors
cast doubt on the validity of the claims that have been attributed to
the mall study within scholarly and legal arenas. The minimal
involvement or, in some cases, negative impact of collegial
consultation, academic supervision, and peer review throughout the
evolution of the mall study are reviewed….
It’s not unusual for killers to have amnesia about event. Saturday,
February 15, 1997, Section: News, Page: A3 It is possible to commit a
murder and then forget you did it, according to a leading memory
researcher. A significant proportion of people who commit murders have
some amnesia surrounding the event, particularly if it is a crime of
passion, University of Washington psychologist Elizabeth Loftus said
yesterday.
On Ted Bundy – Loftus testified as a defense expert for Bundy in 1976, Bundy was found guilty of aggravated kidnapping
Loftus, E. and Ketcham, K. (1991). Witness for the Defense. St. Martin’s
Press: New York. The thought had occurred to me as I was flying to Salt
Lake City earlier that day that Ted Bundy might offer to let me stay in
his apartment” (p. 74).
Loftus, E. and Ketcham, K. (1991). Witness for the Defense. St. Martin’s
Press: New York. In court the next morning I sat at a table in the
judge’s chambers. On the other side of the table, close enough for me to
reach across and touch him, sat Ted Bundy. He’s adorable, I thought,
surprised at my first impression, because I’d pictured him in my mind as
brooding, dark, intense disdain (p. 83).
The Alleged Ethical Violations of Elizabeth Loftus in the Case of Jane Doe
Neil Brick
https://ritualabuse.us/research/memory-fms/the-alleged-ethical-violations-of-elizabeth-loftus-in-the-case-of-jane-doe/
In 1997, David Corwin published an article in the May 1997 Child
Maltreatment Issue “Videotaped discovery of a reportedly unrecallable
memory of child sexual abuse: comparison with a childhood interview
videotaped 11 years before.” The woman named as Jane Doe, had agreed to
this publication of the article of her case with Corwin. Loftus, then
with the University of Washington and Melvin Guyer, with the University
of Michigan and a private investigator ascertained the real identity of
Jane Doe. They interviewed her mother, brother, stepmother and foster
mother….
Loftus’ alleged violations of ethics darkened Loftus’ relationship with the University of Washington (UW).
Her colleagues there questioned the methods she had used in her
challenge of Corwin’s work. University officials began a 21-month
investigation of Loftus’ research on this case. David Hodge, Dean at
UW’s College of Arts and Sciences stated that university rules for
research on human subjects were primarily written for medical
experimentation. John Slattery, director of the UW’s Office of Scholarly
Integrity in 1997 stated that Loftus’ would have had to seek UW’s
permission to interview people and probably would have been required to
give UW’s IRB a list of questions being asked and a form explaining the
risks of being interviewed. She probably would have been required to ask
Corwin for permission to interview Jane and review records.
But Loftus believes she is justified in exposing Jane’s identity.
She believes that the secrecy rules used to protect patients or research
subjects should not be used to hide the truth. In the middle of the
investigation, Loftus called Corwin. Corwin told Loftus that Jane wanted
to communicate with Loftus through him. Jane told the University of
Washington’s officials that she disagreed with Loftus’ finding her
mother and her stepmother for interviews. Loftus also admitted
befriending Jane’s biological mother. Loftus admits she was largely
motivated by her desire to unite mother and daughter (Jane). Loftus was
cleared of wrongdoing by the UW committee, but the committee required
her to get the permission of the IRB before talking to Jane’s mother
again. The committee also wanted Loftus to take an ethics’ class. After
this, Loftus left UW for the University of California, Irvine….
Loftus is facing an impending lawsuit by Jane Doe (Nicole Taus) in
Solano County, California. Loftus and several others are being accused
of defamation, libel per se, negligent and intentional infliction of
emotional invasion of privacy, distress and damages. Taus alleges that
Loftus’ research disclosed her private information and revealed her
identity. Taus lawsuits claims this has subjected her and her family to
additional emotional distress from past events, that Loftus and Guyer
didn’t conduct or plan their research with regard for her safety and
welfare and that procedures were not in place for the researchers or
Taus herself to watch the project and report any possible problems. Taus
also states that Loftus and Guyer purposefully mischaracterized the
records and information they received and reviewed….
Loftus obviously made a boundary crossing when she moved from the
role of researcher to friend. Loftus’ objectivity may also have been
diminished by her friendship with Jane’s mother. Also, could Loftus’
desire to unite mother and daughter make her biased to the mother’s
perspective? If it is unhealthy for a psychologist to become friends
with a client, then should a researcher become friends with one of their
subjects?….
