Scott Owen Lilienfeld (December 23, 1960 – September 30, 2020) was a professor of psychology at Emory University and advocate for evidence-based treatments and methods within the field. He is known for his books 50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology, Brainwashed, and others that explore and sometimes debunk psychological claims that appear in the popular press. Along with having his work featured in major U.S. newspapers and journals such as The New York Times, The New Yorker, and Scientific American, Lilienfeld made television appearances on 20/20, CNN and the CBS Evening News.
Background Lilienfeld was born on December 23, 1960, to Ralph and Thelma Lilienfeld of New York, N.Y.(in the Borough of Queens). Growing up, he was interested in paleontology and astronomy, but decided to study psychology after a high school course, then later a few college courses, piqued his interest. He has stated: "Although my love for natural science never waned, I eventually fell in love with the mysteries of the internal world — the human mind — even more than those of the external world." Lilienfeld studied psychology at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1982. As an undergraduate, he was influenced by the work of David T. Lykken on psychopathic personality. Over time, he developed an interest in personality disorders, dissociative disorders, personality assessment, anxiety disorders, psychiatric classification, pseudoscience in psychology, and evidence-based practices in clinical psychology. Lilienfeld considered himself a generalist, saying "this breadth makes me a better researcher and thinker" with a broad perspective on the field of psychology. In 1986, he began a clinical internship at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which he completed in 1987. He earned a doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Minnesota in 1990. From 1990 to 1994, Lilienfeld was an assistant professor of psychology at State University of New York in Albany, NY. From there, he moved to Emory University and served as associate professor until he earned full professorship in 2000. In 2002, Lilienfeld founded the Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice. He was also a consulting editor for Skeptical Inquirer and Skeptic Magazine. He participated on the editorial boards of the Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Psychological Assessment, Perspectives on Psychological Science and Clinical Psychology Review, and wrote articles for Scientific American Mind and Psychology Today. Lilienfeld was a professor of psychology at Emory University, Atlanta, GA. Lilienfeld died of pancreatic cancer at age 59, at his home in Atlanta, on September 30, 2020. He was remembered by his colleague Stuart Vyse as "the foremost authority on pseudoscience in psychology and a preeminent scholar of psychopathology."
Career
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