Remember that we're dealing with at least three different types of
verification here, none of which necessarily involve 'truth':
1. Scientific verification -- Loftus's specialty.
Science has a set of procedures for supporting statements; concensus is a
minor one.
2. Legal -- criminal.
Remember that our justice system is an adversarial one; it is based on
convincing a court against a competing argument.
In a criminal trial the question is whether _guilt_ has been proven
according to legal standards. The standards of evidence involved are not
those of science.
3. Legal -- civil.
Here the question is not guilt; it's financial liability. The standards
are even looser. This is the context of the original lawsuits brought by
Hoult and Crook.
Of course the APA Ethics Board complaints are in neither a legal or a
scientific context, without the volume of precedent that establishes
scientific and legal practice. It's hard to say what the real standards of
evidence and decision are.
* PAUL K. BRANDON [EMAIL PROTECTED] *
* Psychology Dept Minnesota State University, Mankato *
* 23 Armstrong Hall, Mankato, MN 56001 ph 507-389-6217 *
* http://www.mankato.msus.edu/dept/psych/welcome.html *
