Malentendidos e ideas erróneas en la aplicación del comportamiento no verbal en el contexto jurídico-forense español

  1. Esteban Puente-López 1
  2. David Pina 2
  3. Ramón Arce 3
  1. 1 Universidad de Valladolid
    info

    Universidad de Valladolid

    Valladolid, España

    ROR https://ror.org/01fvbaw18

  2. 2 Universidad de La Rioja
    info

    Universidad de La Rioja

    Logroño, España

    ROR https://ror.org/0553yr311

  3. 3 Universidade de Santiago de Compostela
    info

    Universidade de Santiago de Compostela

    Santiago de Compostela, España

    ROR https://ror.org/030eybx10

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Journal:
Acción psicológica

ISSN: 1578-908X

Year of publication: 2023

Issue Title: Investigación aplicada en psicología jurídica y forense

Volume: 20

Issue: 2

Pages: 43-70

Type: Article

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More publications in: Acción psicológica

Abstract

Background and objective: In both the general and specialized population, certain beliefs are held that relate nonverbal communication (NVC) to the probability that a person is telling the truth or lying. However, the evidence indicates that there is no nonverbal indicator or marker that can accurately and reliably discriminate between honest and dishonest testimony, warning of the pseudoscientificity of these techniques. Despite this, the use of NVC indicators is widely used in the fields of security and justice. Therefore, the present work aims to analyze the errors, practical utility and inadequate uses underlying the current practice of NVC in the Spanish legal-forensic context. Method: We made a review of the available evidence regarding NVC, as well as of the legal process and scientific criteria in the technical forensic field of the application of these techniques. Conclusions:The evidence on the use of NVC in the legal-forensic context is extremely limited, especially in the Spanish population, and does not meet the Daubertstandards of admissibility of scientific evidence, i.e.,judicially it is pseudoscientific evidence. This applies not only to its use in the detection of lying or deception, but also in all the practices in which the discipline has taken refuge, such as in processes of credibility of testimony in any type of crime, or in the assessment of emotional coherence or congruence.

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