A case of Pseudologia Fantastica is presented in a man charged with murder. Psychological assessment revealed him to be highly compliant and suggestible, consistent with early research (Healy and Healy, 1915) which showed pathological liars to be suggestible to misleading information. A specific dyslexic disorder is also demonstrated, and the possible mechanisms behind the man's lying considered. Some implications regarding the reliability of the man's varying confessions to the police are discussed, and parallels are drawn between this case and that of Timothy Evans, who in 1950 was hanged for murder.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BradleyL.BryantP. (1983) Categorising sound and learning to read: A causal connection. Nature, 301, 419–21.
2.
Delbruck, (1891) Die pathologische Luge und die psychisch abnormen Schwindler. Eine Untersuchung uber den allmahlichen Uebergang eines normalen psychologishen Vorgangs in ein psychologisches Symptom, fur Aerzte and Juriston. Stuttgart.
3.
EllisA W. (1984) Reading, Writing and Dyslexia: A Cognitive Analysis. Lawrence Erlbaum: London.
4.
EysenckH. J.EysenckS. B. G. (1975) A Manual of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. Hodder and Stoughton.
5.
EysenckS. B. G.RustJ.EysenckH. J. (1977) Personality and the classification of adult offenders. Brit. J. Criminol., 17, 169–79.
6.
FordC. V.KingB. H.HollenderM. H. (1988) Lies and liars: psychiatric aspects of prevarication. Am. J. Psychiat., 145, 554–62.
7.
GrayJ. A. (1982) The Neuropsychology of Anxiety: an Enquiry into the Functions of the septo-hippooampal System. Oxford University Press, Oxford
8.
GudjonssonG. H. (1983) Suggestibility, intelligence, memory recall and personality, an experimental study. Br. J. Psychiat., 142, 35–7.
9.
GudjonssonG. H. (1987) A parallel form of the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale. Br. J. Clin. Psychol., 26, 215–21.
10.
GudjonssonG. H. (1989) Compliance in an interrogative situation: a new scale. Person. Individ. Diff.10, 535–10
11.
HealyW.HealyM. T. (1915) Pathological Lying, Accusation and Swindling. A Study in Forensic Psychology. London, Heinemann.
12.
HemsleyD. R.GaretyP. A. (1986) The formation and maintenance of delusion: A bayesian analysis. Brit. J. Psychiat, 149, 51–6.
13.
JesseF. T. (1957) (Ed). Trials of Evans and Christie. London, William Hodge and Co.
14.
KennedyL. (1961) 10 Rillington Place. London, Victor Gollancz.
15.
Koppen (1898) Ueber die pathologische Lunger. Charite-Annalen, 8, 674–719.
16.
KraepelinE. (1921) Manic Depressive Insanity and Paranoia. Trans. R. M. Barily. Edinburgh, E. S. Lingstone.
17.
LandyD.AaronsonE. (1969) The influence of character of the criminal and his victim on the decisions of simulated juries. J. Exp. Soc. Psychol., 5, 141–52.
18.
PowellG. E.GudjonssonG. H.MullenP. (1983) Application of the guilty-knowledge technique in a case of Pseudologia fantastica. Person. Individ. Diff., 4, 141–6.
19.
SnyderS. (1986) Pseudologia Fantastica in the borderline patient. Am. J. Psychiat, 143, 1287–9.
