Eugenio Garrido

The detection of deception with the reality monitoring approach: a review of the empirical evidence

One of the verbal approaches to the detection of deceit is based on research on human memory that tries to identify the characteristics that differentiate between internal and external memories (reality monitoring). This approach has attempted to extrapolate the contributions of reality monitoring (RM) research to the deception area. In this paper, we have attempted to review all available studies conducted in several countries in order to yield some general conclusions concerning the discriminative power of this approach. Regarding individual criteria, the empirical results are not very encouraging: few criteria discriminate significantly across studies, and there are several variables that moderate their effect. Some of the contradictory findings may have emerged because of differences in the operationalizations and procedures used across individual studies. However, more promising results have been reported in recent studies, and the approach as a whole appears to discriminate above chance level, reaching accuracy rates that are similar to those of criteria-based content analysis (CBCA). Some suggestions for future research are made.

Police officers' credibility judgments: Accuracy and estimated ability

A study was conducted to examine Spanish police officers’ and nonofficers’ lie- and truth-detection accuracy, as well as their estimated detection ability. The participants were 121 police officers and 146 undergraduates who watched videotaped truthful and deceptive statements. They had to indicate: (1) whether each statement was truthful or deceptive, and (2) how good police officers were, in comparison with the general population, at detecting the truthfulness or deceptiveness of a statement. Results indicate that police officers’ accuracy was not higher than that of nonofficers, rather, while the officers reached an accuracy rate close to chance probability, the undergraduates surpassed that probability. Officers had a very strong tendency to judge the statements as deceptive; this made them less accurate than the students in judging the truthful accounts, while both groups reached a similar accuracy when judging the deceptive ones. Both occupational samples considered that the police are more capable ...

Facial appearance and impressions of ‘credibility’: The effects of facial babyishness and age on person perception

T he babyface overgeneralization effect is perceiving that people whose facial features resemble those of children have childlike traits, and treating them accordingly. This experiment sought to replicate the US findings with a South-European sample, to examine the impact of facial maturity on impressions of truthfulness, and to examine the influence of age on person perception. Three-hundred and twenty-four Spanish undergraduates were shown a photograph and had to rate it on a series of behavioural-tendency and trait scales measuring honesty, truthfulness, strength, dominance, intelligence, naivety, and warmth. The photographs were babyfaced, intermediate, and mature faced computer-manipulated versions of three pictures of the same individual at three different ages. Results indicate that the experimental manipulations significantly affected most of the dependent variables. Babyfaced individuals were perceived as the most truthful, and children as the most deceitful. However, when the deceit concerned a ...

Contributions of an artistic educational program for older people with early dementia: An exploratory qualitative study:

Objective: To describe a contemporary artistic educational program based on photographic cyanotype techniques and to present the results of the program carried out with older people with early dementia. We determined whether these people could participate in the program, their viewpoint about it, and what this program could contribute to their experience. Method: Twenty-one people diagnosed with mild or moderate dementia participated in a series of artistic education workshops. While conducting the workshops, participant observation was carried out, and the participants’ engagement was assessed. Upon completing the series, five focus groups were held with the participants with dementia, and another focus group with their professional caretakers. Results: We observed the participants’ high level of commitment to the activity and their interest in learning new things. We also observed the participants’ satisfaction during the creative process and with their results. The artistic activities not only reinforced the feelings of capacity of the participants with early dementia but also transmitted a positive image of them. Conclusions: Dementia was not an obstacle to participation in the program, which was an opportunity for creativity, learning, enjoyment, and communication for people with dementia. In the authors’ opinion, facilitating access to art and artistic education to people with early dementia can contribute to enforcing their rights and to improving the care system.

Regression toward the Mean or Heuristic Processing in Detecting Deception?: Reply to Elaad (2010)

Masip, et al. (2009) conducted a study in which observers had to make truth–lie judgments at the beginning, middle, or end of a series of videotaped statements. They found a decline in truth judgments over time and explained this finding in terms of information processing mode. Recently, Elaad (2010) challenged this explanation and contended that the decline could be a result of regression toward the mean. In the present paper, it is argued that because Masip, et al. took multiple Moment 1 judgments over time and then averaged across judgments, regression toward the mean was extremely unlikely. Furthermore, the decrease in truth judgments was found under several separate conditions; this cannot be explained by random fluctuations alone. Finally, Masip, et al.s data were re-analyzed adjusting for the effects of regression toward the mean. The outcomes of these analyses were the same as those reported in the original article.

La detección de la mentira mediante la medida de la tensión en la voz: una revisión crítica

Resumen Los analizadores de la tensión vocal son dispositivos que supuestamente detectan la ausencia de ciertos microtemblores en la voz, lo) que sería indicativo de que el sujeto está experimentando tensión. Desde esta perspectiva se asume además que todo mentiroso está tenso, por loo que los analizadores de la tensión vocal se comercializan como detectores de mentiras. En este trabajo presentamos la historia de tales artilugios y la base teórica sobre la que pretenden apoyarse, para pasar a continuación a examinar la investigación empírica realizada para contestar a cuatro preguntas clave: (a) ¿existen características vocales que se alteran cuando el hablante experimenta tensión?, (b) ¿existen características vocales que se alteran cuando el hablante miente?, (c) ¿detectan la tensión los evaluadores del estrés vocal?, y (d) ¿detectan la mentira? La respuesta que la investigación ha dado a estas preguntas cuestiona seriamente el empleo de los analizadores de la tensión vocal como detectores de mentiras.

Expectativas de resultados, expectativas de capacidad percibida o autoeficacia: dos constructos percibidos como diferentes

ResumenLa teoria de la autoeficacia propuesta por Bandura en 1977 distingue entre los conceptos de expectativas de autoeficacia y expectativas de resultados. El presente estudio surge de la exposicion del estudio de Manning y Wright (1983), en el que hallan una correlacion elevada entre ambas expectativas.Partiendo de las sugerencias que ofrecen ambos autores para explicar la relacion entre ambas expectativas, hemos llevado a cabo un estudio en el que sesenta sujetos expresaban sus juicios de capacidad para controlar el dolor de una extraccion dental sin tomar medicamentos contra el dolor desde 25 horas antes hasta el momento de la extraccion. Cada sujeto responde a una unica cuestion formulada atendiendo a la nocion de autoeficacia percibida o a la nocion de expectativa de resultados. Los resultados, en contra de los aportados por Manning y Wright, muestran diferencias dependiendo de la formulacion de las preguntas, haciendose significativas a medida que nos acercamos mas al momento de la extraccion. Tal...

Teaching Students About Facial Composites Using the FACES Software

An active learning exercise was carried out in an eyewitness psychology course in which students first built up a facial composite of a famous person using the FACES software. Then, the students had to name the person depicted in each composite. The results of this exercise were then described by the instructor during a theoretical lecture about facial composites. The students experienced for themselves how difficult it is to build and identify facial composites of familiar faces. Pre-post analyses showed that the exercise was effective in changing students’ initially optimistic beliefs about the utility of facial composites.

Women's anxiety about professional success: 30 years later in a Spanish context

Reproduces studies carried out at the beginning of the 1970s that demonstrated womens anxiety about university or professional success. This anxiety was characterised by their fear of being socially isolated. A methodology in which women are asked direct questions shows that they have overcome that anxiety. But when a more subtle type of question is used, it is revealed that women continue to attribute the best academic, professional and social results to men instead of women.

Determinantes psicosociales de la experiencia de soledad

ResumenEl estilo de vida actual propicia que las personas se sientan cada vez mas solas y vean mermada su calidad de vida. Habitualmente las investigaciones han destacado factores objetivos (cantidad de relaciones sociales, tiempo que duran, numero de amigos…), subjetivos (calidad de la interaccion) y autoevaluativos (sentimientos de felicidad, timidez, abandono…). Sin embargo, los aspectos psicosociales han sido menos relacionados con la soledad, especialmente la autoeficacia percibida ante situaciones de interaccion social. Asi, se estudia en una muestra de jovenes la influencia de la autoeficaciapercibida en la autovaloracion del sujeto al enfrentarse a experiencias afectivas y de tarea y como tales experiencias originan sentimientos de soledad y ausencia de conductas interactivas. Los resultados indican que la autoineficacia determina mas significativamente el sentimiento de soledad que la autoevaluacion. Igualmente, se constata la ausencia de relacion entre indices objetivos y subjetivos de soledad. ...