Scott O. Lilienfeld

Scott O. Lilienfeld
Scott O. Lilienfeld at CSICon 2012
Born	December 23, 1960 New York City
Residence	Atlanta, Georgia
Nationality	American
Alma mater	University of Minnesota
Occupation	Professor, Psychologist
Notable work	50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology

Scott O. Lilienfeld (born December 23, 1960) is 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 has made television appearances on 20/20, CNN and the CBS Evening News.

Lilienfeld was born on December 23, 1960 to Ralph and Thelma Lilienfeld of New York, N.Y. 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 considers himself a generalist, saying "this breadth makes me a better researcher and thinker" with a broad perspective on the field of psychology.