Ocular stability in deception

Abstract

The popular belief that deceitful persons have shifty eyes was checked under laboratory conditions. While 20 "innocent" and 20 "guilty" students of a laboratory crime were questioned, the steadiness of their fixation was measured by opthalmograph records. Following a 1-minute rest period their fixation was measured again. The most significant differences were found by the pooled estimates of 6 judges, the accuracy of their judgment reaching 80%. The technique is considered worthy of a trial with police cases. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)