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Elizabeth Loftus: 2 ideas worth knowing

2 ideas from Elizabeth Loftus, each explained in a minute and credited to the original work. Free on Savvy.

• Ask how fast cars were going when they 'smashed', and witnesses invent broken glass

  Elizabeth Loftus and John Palmer showed people footage of a car accident, then asked how fast the cars were going when they 'smashed', 'collided', 'bumped' or 'hit' each other. The…

  — Elizabeth Loftus and John Palmer, Reconstruction of Automobile Destruction

• A quarter of people can be talked into 'remembering' a childhood event that never happened

  Elizabeth Loftus and Jacqueline Pickrell told adults four childhood stories supplied by a relative — three true, one entirely invented, about getting lost in a mall at age five. Ab…

  — Elizabeth Loftus and Jacqueline Pickrell, The Formation of False Memories

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