Specialist In The Reliability Of Eyewitness Testimony And Repressed Memories To Speak

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University Park, PA -- Elizabeth F. Loftus, a cognitive psychologist who has specialized in the reliability of eyewitness testimony and repressed memories and has provided expert testimony in many high-profile legal cases, will deliver the inaugural Herschel W. and Eileen Wirtshafter Leibowitz Lecture in Behavioral Sciences in the College of the Liberal Arts.

The lecture, to be held at 8 p.m. Thursday, March 20, in 112 Kern Building on the University Park campus, will center on new studies that show the power of imagination to make people believe they have had experiences they didn't have. Loftus is professor of psychology and adjunct professor of law at the University of Washington, Seattle. She received her Ph.D. in psychology from Stanford University. Since then, she has published 18 books and more than 300 scientific articles. Her fourth book, Eyewitness Testimony, won a National Media Award (Distinguished Contribution) from the American Psychological Foundation. Her most recent book, The Myth of Repressed Memory, co-authored with Katherine Ketcham, was published by St. Martin's Press and has already been translated into a number of foreign languages.

Loftus has been an expert witness or consultant in hundreds of cases, including the McMartin Preschool molestation case, the trial of Oliver North, the trial of the officers accused in the Rodney King beating, the Menendez brothers and the Oklahoma Bombing litigation. Her research over the last 20 years has focused on human memory, eyewitness testimony and courtroom procedure. She has won numerous accolades, and in 1995 was selected by the American Academy of Forensic Psychology to be the recipient of their Distinguished Contributions to Forensic Psychology Award.

The Leibowitz lectureship, named in honor of Herschel W. Leibowitz, Evan Pugh professor emeritus and member of the faculty in the Department of Psychology, and his wife, Eileen, who established an endowment for the lectureship in the College of the Liberal Arts, will present speakers on interdisciplinary topics in the behavioral sciences in recognition of Professor Leibowitz's distinguished contributions in psychology and Mrs. Leibowitz's long-standing commitment to development at Penn State. The lecture is open to the public.

Contact: Vicki Fong (814) 865-7517 office or email at vyf1@psu.edu