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THE PSYCHOPATHOLOGY OF LYING

1925; BMJ; Volume: s1-6; Issue: 21 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1136/jnnp.s1-6.21.20

1468-330X

I. M. Altshuler,

Deception detection and forensic psychology

Lying is a fairly common habit of humanity, to be studied objectively without any moral preconception of any sort."-RALPHDEMOS.THERE is little doubt that deception or lying in its very principle is merely a 'physiological' manifestation which finds its justification in the tendency to survive.It can be easily noticed that deceptive methods are the most widely practised modi operandi in nature.The animal kingdom supplies us with splendid material in this respect, because falsehood among lower animals is more obvious than in the higher types of animal and man.When there is a situation of immediate danger, with the impossibility of escape, deception becomes the means in emergency and, therefore, very much in evidence.Again, a study of the organs of vision, hearing, smelling, etc., reveals the fact that these organs are so constructed as to leave free play for deception.The eye, for instance, can see only at a certain distance, and is subjected to illusory influences of combinations of colour and light.For example, a zebra has light and dark stripes which, even at a short distance, blend in the moonlight so as to match in colour the pale tint which the arid ground possesses.Deception in the matter of protection finds its application in nature in the same way as do strong teeth, speed, and force.We shall take up later the question as to why nature resorts to falsehood.We will now refer to one of the most marked and interesting occurrences in nature, illustrating plainly the work of deception, viz., mimicry.Mimicry is a deceptive and protective resenmblance to appearance which nature has adopted for its use in order to preserve or protect life.Edward Bagnell Poulton, in his Essays on Evolution, says that protective and aggressive mimicry may be defined as false warning and signalling colours (' pseudosematic '), repelling enemies by the deceptive suggestion of some unpleasant or dangerous quality, or alluring prey by the deceptive appearances of something attractive to them (' pseude- pisematic').Even foreign objects, commonly associated with some well-defended and aggressive species, may be mimicked by a com- paratively defenceless form " (' pseudalloposematic ').It is known that the colourful appearance of certain flowers is to by copyright.