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
Physical examination showed a perfectly normally developed girl.
No sensory defects. Pleasant features. Well shaped head.
Weight 101 lbs; height 5 ft. 1 in. We found no hysterical
stigmata. Menstruation had first occurred at 14. No trouble or
irregularity was reported. We learn the girl has never had any
serious illness. She herself told of fainting spells after being
whipped and so on, but these were undoubtedly falsifications.
The family physician informed us he had operated on the girl for
appendicitis about three months previous to the time we first saw
her. He had found some evidences of an old appendiceal
inflammation, but it is quite likely from the various accounts
which we heard that her symptoms recounted to him were largely
fabrication and that the signs which he found, at least in their
excessive phases, were partly deceptions. The most important
point for the court proceedings was his findings that the girl
had never been sexually tampered with and had no local disease.
At the time when we knew Edna she was being treated for a local
infection which must have been recent and superficial, for it
rapidly subsided.
We had ample opportunity to test Edna's ability and found it
quite normal. She had been out of school much and had been
careless in general about her education, but she had finally
finished the grammar school. A long list of tests was done
almost uniformly well. Where a prolonged task which required
concentration was asked, Edna was inclined to work carelessly,
but in general her capacities proved to be decidedly good. She
was accustomed to read nothing but the lightest literature and
fairy stories and her interests were of the superficial sort.
Neither in powers of imagery or imagination, nor by anything else
ascertained about her mental abilities did we come to know of any
point of special bearing upon her behavior.
On the ``Aussage'' picture test, she gave only 12 details, all
correct, on free recital. Upon questioning she gave 28 more
items and almost the only variation from accuracy was in respect
to the colors. Evidently she let her fancy run when she could
not remember correctly; through this she got 6 items incorrect.
She readily accepted 3 out of 4 suggestions.
Our earliest impressions of Edna state that she seemed much
confused in her stories and in her manner of telling them,
leaving sentences unfinished and trying to explain
inconsistencies by other inconsistencies. At this time she was
referring constantly to her doubts about her age, her family, and
her origin. She then seemed highly suspicious of every one and
talked of suicide. However, when she was showing these signs she
could be diverted, for she worked with much pleasure at the
tests, particularly certain memory tests on which she did well.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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