Psicothema, 2010. Vol. Vol. 22 (nº 1). 125-130

Judit Bembibre Serrano y Lorenzo Higueras Cortés

Se describen dos experimentos, realizados con una muestra de 240 sujetos igualados en sexo y entrevistados por 8 psicólogos y 10 policías, que han intentado comprobar si las categorías del modelo de control de fuentes ayudan a diferenciar el testimonio verdadero del falso. En el primer experimento la mentira pretendía exculpar a un delincuente (un violador) y en el segundo intentaba inculpar a un inocente, condición no descrita en la literatura acerca de la aplicación del modelo. En ambos se estima el estado emocional de los entrevistados a través del Profile of Moods States (POMS). Los resultados apuntarían a que el modelo es más eficaz cuando los sujetos con instrucciones de mentir están sometidos a una mayor carga emocional, es decir, cuando la mentira inculpa falsamente de hechos delictivos. Se discute la importancia forense de estos resultados.

Othello’s error again: Application of the source monitoring model in the assessment of testimony credibility and the influence of emotional stress. Two experiments, in which 240 individuals, matched in sex, were interviewed by 8 psychologists and 10 police officers, were carried out to check whether the categories of the source monitoring model help to distinguish between a true and a false testimony. In the first experiment, lies were meant to exonerate a criminal (a rapist) and, in the second one, the goal was to accuse an innocent person, a condition not described in the literature about the application of the model. In both cases, we assessed the emotional state of the interviewees using the Spanish version of the Profile of Moods States (POMS). The results suggest that this model is more effective when the person who has been instructed to lie is subjected to a stressful emotional situation, that is, when a lie wrongly blames criminal actions on an innocent person. The forensic importance of these results is discussed.