Nate Hall

Elizabeth Ortiz
PSY 1300
30 March 2016
Reaction Paper #1: Elizabeth Loftus
I chose to watch Elizabeth Loftuss TED talk because I enjoyed reading about her
research in the textbook and wanted to put a persona to the person. I was also interested in how
memory could be altered, and what that involved. The answer, I found, was that the process was
very easy, so easy that it could be done accidentally, causing serious issues to arise across
society.
Loftus started with a powerful anecdote about Steve Titus, a man falsely convicted for
rape, whose life was put into a horrible downward spiral afterwards. This led into introducing the
idea that memory is like a Wikipedia page, a simple and effective analogy. She then provided
several examples of studies she did in the 1970s, and studies done by researchers internationally
that proved that language and variety of situation and questioning can plant false memories, and
that stressful circumstances not only allow this to happen, but can emphasize and further distort
these memories. The justice system is not the only place that these plantings happen accidentally.
Loftus shows that certain techniques used in psychoanalysis can convince patients that they went
through awful experiences. She concludes by talking about the ethics of this process, and
asserting that memory, like liberty, is fragile.
First of all, I was not aware that a process that places false memories into peoples minds
was within the realm of possibility. I wonder if it takes more than just leading questions, but she
seemed to imply that persuasive techniques such as those types of questioning were all it took to

plant a memory. I also found it very interesting that more stressful situations made it easier for
more extravagant false memories to be planted, such as identifying a rapist or an interrogator as a
completely different looking person. Steve Tituss story shocked me, and what shocked me even
more was that his story was one of 300 stories that involved someone being imprisoned for
years, out of the blue, for a crime that they did not commit. I had not realized how severe a
problem this was, probably because I had not realized that it was so easy to accidentally lead an
eye witness, or even a victim, into an altered memory.
As a speaker, Elizabeth Loftus was definitely the expert in her field, bringing up facts and
anecdotes with ease to explain her theories. However, she did falter on occasion, and her tone
gave a slight impression of desperation (though with the subject matter at hand and the
ridiculousness of the problem I do not blame her). Her falters were fleeting, and the conclusion
to her speech, though tinted with the political word liberty, was strong and unyielding, which
suited the subject very well.
After seeing this TED talk, it is clear that research needs to continue on false memory.
Practices of law enforcement and the government as a whole must be analyzed and curtailed to
avoid creating skewed accounts and more cases like Steve Titus. Loftus questioned the ethics of
planting memories near the end of her speech, and brought up examples like Santa and planting a
memory to help a child avoid obesity. I am not entirely sure about what I would want to do, since
altering someones memory, someones brain for ulterior motives seems maniacal in a way.
Though whether or not that is a stigma that will fade in years to come is anyones guess.