The full lecture (video 71m)
Prof. Elizabeth Loftus: What's the Matter With Memory

Posted by: Andrew_M_Garland at October 6, 2009 7:46 AM

I told several people a few years ago - That when "therapists" can't figure what is wrong with someone they resort to repressed memories and then start offering suggestions to the patients as to what's wrong with them. They then give the patient a blueprint to follow and the patient typically being weak minded buys this hook line and sinker.

Posted by: David M. at October 6, 2009 12:03 PM

This makes me think of my favorite entertainer, mental illusionist Derren Brown. Check out how far suggestion can get you.

Derren Brown: Russian Scam

Derren Brown: Paying with Paper

Posted by: Debra at October 6, 2009 12:40 PM

I love that although he makes big bucks fooling people, he is an outspoken skeptic / atheist / debunker (like fellow magicians Penn and Teller). He'll do things like stage seances in his shows, get the whole audience believing, and then show how it was done.

Richard Dawkins does a fascinating interview of him here on cold reading and other dodgy psychic techniques. Brown also did his own brilliant debunking series called Messiah.

Sorry to ramble on about this guy but his work is quite relevant to themes often discussed here, and I think some of you will be fascinated as I am.

Posted by: Debra at October 6, 2009 12:46 PM

I gotta call you on this Debra- I'm really skeptical that a person could buy jewelry with plain paper. Who wouldn't count out 45 $100.00 bills? Who in NY or London would just hand over to a stranger their wallet and cell phone?

Then again... In Rome a few years back, a car drove up with 2 men in it, and offered to sell us (wife and I) two really nice leather jackets for something like 100 euro. As I reached for my wallet, he lunged for my wallet. I was lucky that the driver hit the gas maybe 1-2 seconds early too early. They sped off into the traffic, I still had my wallet AND my wife was still holding the two jackets! The bottom line is I knew better than to take my wallet out to a stranger on the street, in a running car no less, but I did.

Posted by: Eric at October 6, 2009 4:40 PM

PS Debra-

I am enjoying the Derren Brown on youtube.

Posted by: Eric at October 6, 2009 5:22 PM

The consistent 25% figure that she gives is an interesting number. Another interesting percentage came up earlier today:

My laboratory studies of college students have shown that two percent of them are "unconditional nonreciprocators."

Posted by: Crid [CridComment @ gmail] at October 6, 2009 6:25 PM

Glad you're enjoying it, Eric.

Personally, I believe his claim of using no stooges and that he is doing it all with verbal and nonverbal cues. Hypnosis is quite real, and he claims to have studied it. There are many people whom stunts like this don't work on, because suggestibility varies greatly, but sometimes they do work and that is what they film. How is it any less plausible than "remembering" a false memory?

Posted by: Debra at October 6, 2009 8:47 PM

Brown had a show on tv a while back, was flipping thru the channels one night - he had a guy halfway undressed before he realised what was happening.

Seems plausible I supose given the sheer mass of stupid people on the planet.

Who was it that said mankinds combined intellegence was finite and we just keep reproducing?

Posted by: lujlp at October 6, 2009 9:47 PM

> Who was it that said mankinds
> combined intellegence was finite
> and we just keep reproducing?

An ungrateful fool.

Posted by: Crid [CridComment @ gmail] at October 7, 2009 10:36 PM