Pioneering memory researcher Elizabeth Loftus explores pitfalls of human memory at UC Irvine’s annual Schneiderman lecture

EVENT: Renowned memory expert and Distinguished Professor Elizabeth Loftus will discuss “What’s the Matter with Memory?” at the 17th annual Howard A. Schneiderman Memorial Bioethics Lecture at UC Irvine. Loftus’ pioneering research helped prove the malleable nature of human memory and its vulnerability to distortion and contamination. She will explore the ethical implications of her findings, including whether it is ever ethical to deliberately plant false memories, which like true memories, affect people’s thoughts, intentions and behaviors.

DATE: Tuesday, May 29, 2007
TIME: 7 p.m. A reception follows the lecture.
LOCATION: The Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center of the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering, 100 Academy, Irvine

BACKGROUND: In addition to conducting research and teaching, Loftus serves as an expert witness or consultant in major court cases involving eyewitness testimony and memory. She worked on Martha Stewart’s trial, the Oklahoma City bombing, Michael Jackson and the Menendez brothers. Loftus is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Philosophical Society and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She was named by the Review of General Psychology one of the top 100 psychologists of the 20th century.

The Howard A. Schneiderman Memorial Bioethics Lecture Series at UC Irvine began in 1990 with an endowment from Schneiderman, the third dean of UCI’s School of Biological Sciences. The series brings renowned experts to UCI each year to speak about social and ethical implications of advances in biology and medicine.