Honor Recognizes Researcher's International Distinction in Psychology

UC Irvine psychologist Elizabeth Loftus, whose research and publications over the last three decades have changed the way academics, courts and the public view the malleability of human memory, was elected Monday to the prestigious Royal Society of Edinburgh.

The Scotland-based society, founded by Adam Smith in 1783, is among the oldest and most distinguished academies of arts and sciences in the world, and the election as a Corresponding Fellow recognizes the international esteem of Loftus' research. Fellows include nationally and internationally eminent individuals in the sciences, arts, humanities, professions, industry and commerce.

Loftus' work has shown that memory is highly susceptible to distortion and manipulation, and that people can vividly recall events that never happened. Her research on false memory, the reliability of eyewitness reports and memories "recovered" through therapy has affected how law enforcement, courts and psychologists consider such testimony.

"I'm honored to join this venerable society," Loftus said. "It's rewarding to do research with a real-world impact, and wonderful to have this work recognized by peers. But it's completely amazing to receive such recognition from a European organization halfway around the world."

Loftus is a Distinguished Professor in UCI's School of Social Ecology and a faculty fellow at the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory. She has served as an expert witness or consultant in many nationally publicized cases, including trials involving Catholic priest Paul Shanley, the Oklahoma City bombing, Michael Jackson and the Menendez brothers.

Loftus is the recipient of numerous other awards and honors. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and a member of the National Academy of Sciences, which awarded her the inaugural Henry & Bryna David Lectureship in 2002 for "application of the best social and behavioral sciences research to public policy issues." The American Psychological Society recognized her "significant lifetime intellectual contributions to the basic science of psychology" with the William James Fellow Award in 2001. Recently, she also received the 2005 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Psychology.

Ranked among the 25 psychologists most frequently cited in introductory psychology textbooks, Loftus has published more then 350 journal articles and is the author of 20 books, some in multiple editions, and many that are translated into other languages. She is author of "Eyewitness Testimony," which won a National Media Award, and co-author of the widely cited book "The Myth of Repressed Memory: False Memories and Allegations of Sexual Abuse."

Loftus joins three other University of California professors who are fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: UCI's Michael Rugg, professor of neurobiology and behavior, who is also a faculty fellow at the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory; Roger Nisbet, professor of ecology, evolution and marine biology at UC Santa Barbara; and Allan Balmain, professor of biochemistry at UC San Francisco.

The Royal Society of Edinburgh was founded during the Scottish Enlightenment for the "advancement of learning and useful knowledge." RSE currently includes about 1,300 peer-elected fellows, including Ordinary Fellows; Corresponding Fellows, who reside overseas and have achieved "significant international distinction within their own subject or profession;" and Honorary Fellows, who are internationally renowned even outside their field. Over the years, the society has included such notables as poet William Wordsworth, and Nobel Prize-winners Niels Bohr and James Watson. For more information, see www.royalsoced.org.uk

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