Pathology of Lying, Accusation, and Swindling: A Study in Forensic Psychology — John Shaqi
Pathology of Lying, Accusation, and Swindling: A Study in Forensic PsychologyHealy, William
Science
Pathology of Lying, Accusation, and Swindling: A Study in Forensic Psychology
Healy, William
Criminal psychology; Swindlers and swindling
The diagnoses of several competent medical men are that the girl
is a simulator or is an hysterical, and their findings show that
she has lied tremendously about her past. (There were never any
positive signs of hysteria, and our own opinion is that the case
is much better called one of extreme simulation and
misrepresentation, as in the diabetes and sputum affairs, etc.,
and of self-mutilation, as with the hairpin.)
We have had ample opportunity to become acquainted with Inez's
mental qualities. She has repeatedly been given tests for mental
ability. As judged by the average of those seen in our court
work we are forced to regard her as having ability clearly above
the normal. Her perceptions are keen and quick. She works
planfully and rapidly with our concrete problems and shows good
powers of mental representation. It is notable that she is very
keen to do her best on tests and takes much delight in a good
record. Her psychomotor control is astonishingly good. In a
certain tapping test, which we consider well done if the
individual has succeeded in tapping in 90 squares in 30 seconds,
she did 117 and 129 at two successive trials with only one error
in each. This is next to the best record we have ever seen. Our
puzzle box, which is seldom opened in less than 2 minutes, she
planfully attacked and conquered in 52 seconds. She also rapidly
put it together again, which is an unusual performance. Reaction
times on the antonym test, giving the opposites to words, were
very low; average 1.4 seconds. Her immediate memory for words
was normal, but nothing extraordinary. She gave correctly,
although not quite in logical order, 18 out of 20 items on a
passage which she read herself. On a passage read four times to
her she gave 11 out of 12 items in correct sequence. The
Kent-Rosanoff association test showed, to our surprise, nothing
peculiar. Notwithstanding her known social characteristics,
there were very few egocentric or subjective reactions.
Nor did the ``Aussage'' test show great peculiarity. On free
recital she gave 17 items, two of which were incorrect. They
were misinterpretations rather than inventions, however. On
questioning she added 15 items. She was incorrect on 5 more
details, but all of these were denials of objects actually to be
seen in the picture. Not one was a fictitious addition. She
rejected all the 6 suggestions proffered.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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