Jacques Py

Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès | UTM · Cognition, Langues, Langage, Ergonomie (CLLE-ERSS)

There are two primary investigative interview objectives: gathering information to determine what happened and who did it and assessing the witness’s reliability. The present study examined to what extent investigative interviewers gather investigation-relevant information (IRI) compared to interviewee details (ID) to assess witness reliability. As...

Identifying a suspect is critical for successful criminal investigations. Research focused on two decision processes during lineup identification, namely ‘automatic recognition’ and ‘elimination’ strategy, and their relation to identification accuracy. In this article, we report two experiments conducted in France and South Africa, which further ex...

The general theory of deception (GTD) aims to unify and complete the various sparse theoretical units that have been proposed in the deception literature to date, in a comprehensive framework fully describing from end to end the process by which deceptive messages are produced, and how this can inform more effective prevention and detection. As par...

In collaboration with recruiting and background check firms, we gave a customized application form designed to both deter and enhance detection of deception to 27 real-life candidates. A total of 269 elements common to both the customized form and their usual free-form resumes were verified. Inaccuracies were reduced from 23% on the resumes to 11%...

Dematerialized negotiations are increasing and tend to foster deceptive exchanges, while also limiting the ability to detect signs of deception. We therefore tested whether it was possible to deter negotiators from producing deceptive statements in the first place, by manipulating the mental conflict of lying (Dissonance factor) and increasing the...

When tasked with recalling a heard conversation, most individuals are unable to remember specific details. In this study, we tested the effect of Verbatim Recall Instruction (VRI) at recall. Drawing on fuzzy-trace theory, we hypothesised that the use of VRI would lead earwitnesses to use their verbatim mnesic trace to produce a more detailed recall...

Subsurface engineering projects with high socio-environmental impacts raise strong controversies among stakeholders, which often affects the projects’ implementation. These controversies originate from a loss of public confidence in the decision-making process, lack of information about new technologies, and the desire of some promoters to avoid co...

This book extends and completes the construction of the sciences of integrity begun in 2021, and continued at the 2nd IRAFPA International Colloquium in Coimbra, Portugal, 16-18 June 2022. Eleven most accomplished contributions attempt to answer the question of what these new frontiers of integrity are in a changing academic world. If we were to de...

Nanotechnologies are a controversial topic, as they seem promising but also cause concern. Previous research has highlighted the potential link between nanotechnologies and other hazardous technologies. The aim of this research was to analyse the discourse on this topic by three groups of participants: laypersons, scientists and environmentalists....

Most deception research provides between‐subject results (e.g., liars give on average less detailed accounts), which might be of limited value for professionals evaluating credibility on an individual basis. This study examines the optimal instructions of a within‐subject multiple recalls strategy to detect deception. A total of 110 participants, d...

Gambling is a field of study that has grown since the 2000s. Much research has focused on adolescents and youth as a vulnerable population. The rate of aging gamblers is increasing; however, evidence-based knowledge of this population is still too sparse. After introducing the issue (1), this article provides a narrative review of older adults’ gam...

Introduction Strokes leave around 40% of survivors dependent in their activities of daily living, notably due to severe motor disabilities. Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) have been shown to be efficiency for improving motor recovery after stroke, but this efficiency is still far from the level required to achieve the clinical breakthrough expecte...

The urgency of doing complements the urgency of knowing. Urgency here is not the inconsequential injunction of irrational immediacy. It arises in various contexts for good reasons, when there is a threat to the human existence and harms to others. Today, our knowledge based civilization is at risk both by new production models of knowledge and by t...

The lack of consensus on their definition is an issue to measure paranormal beliefs, particularly in French where few scales are validated. This research focused on the validation of the French version of the Survey of Scientifically Unaccepted Beliefs (SSUB; Irwin & Marks, 2013) using Modern Test Theories. We examined its predictive validity throu...

The own‐group recognition bias (OGRB) has been consistently linked to social contact in theoretical accounts. Indeed, social contact is assumed by most authors to underlie the perceptual expertise of out‐groups' faces. However, little is known empirically about how it might impact face‐processing strategies. We tested the proposition that social in...

The research Ethics Committees (RECs) give authorization, after ethical assessment, to conduct research involving human participants, whether or not the research is for medical purposes. In France, a distinction is made between research aimed at increasing medical or biological knowledge (examined by the Committees for the Protection of Human Resea...

We conducted two studies to investigate why academics accept to award a prestigious title for unsatisfactory Ph.D. dissertations. Through semi-structured interviews with 19 academics, the first study showed that convenience theses could either be planned as such from the beginning of the doctoral work or become so as the doctorate develops. In the...

This study was carried out within the context of an assessment for promotion to a high-status position. It aimed to determine the conditions in which the backlash effect occurs in a group characterized by negative stereotypes owing to their ethnicity: North African males in France. One hundred twenty-eight recruitment professionals assessed the pro...

Since the 1980s, a large body of research has proven the superiority of enhanced or modified cognitive interviews over the standard interviews used by police officers around the world. Although the cognitive interview is well grounded in theory and has proven practical value, this tool is not always used by police officers. The objective of the pre...

The own-group recognition bias (OGB) might be explained by the usage of different face processing strategies for own and other-group faces. Although featural processing appears in general to impair face recognition ability when compared to configural processing (itself perhaps a function of acquired expertise), recent research has suggested that th...

We lie once or twice a day (De Paulo, 1996), especially in situations that require a good impression, such as a job interview. 90% of the people interviewed by the Florian Mantionne Institute (2013) consider it "normal" to arrange their CV. The question of the acceptability of a lie told during the job interview therefore arose. To answer them, we...

Les conséquences inquiétantes du dopage sportif ne sont plus à démontrer, et la propagation croissante de cette pratique à la population des sportifs amateurs et jeunes sportifs pose problème. Pour aborder cette problématique, nous nous sommes intéressés à l'acceptabilité du dopage et aux facteurs qui la détermine. Un questionnaire, construit en cr...

Given the constant increase in sectarian aberrations and the extremism of beliefs associated with them, studying the underlying processes of emergence and then adhering to these beliefs is a major challenge. Our study is based on the principle that uncanny experiences convey paranormal intuitions that form the basis for the emergence of beliefs. Th...

Purpose As eyewitnesses provide the most valuable information for criminal investigations, it is important to further develop and test techniques for collecting eyewitness testimony so that they meet the major objective of a police interview: obtaining details pertaining to criminal actions. This paper aims at testing a new instruction – the re-ena...

Prevention messages are short sentences supposed to broadcast preventive intentions. Three types of messages are noticeable: messages correcting erroneous beliefs, messages informing about the risks and messages promoting responsible gambling. While the results in the literature about messages promoting results are alerting, they are frequently use...

Si la psychologie du témoignage oculaire s’est aujourd’hui imposée comme un champ d’expertise de la psychologie scientifique judiciaire, cette dernière souffre de lacunes concernant le rappel de contenu verbal, pourtant central dans le processus judiciaire. A la différence du statut de témoin oculaire, restrictif parce qu’il nécessite un contact vi...

The use of nanotechnology (devices/materials composed of parts less than 10 nanometres) in the development of new products is rapidly expanding. Industrialists and decision-makers consider nanotechnology to be the next industrial revolution, but fear they risk the same resistance to nanotechnology that their counterparts experienced with geneticall...

Many studies deal with the impact of prevention campaigns. Whatever the method used, most of them postulate that people take the campaign into consideration as soon as they are exposed to it. The cognitive dissonance theory (Festinger, 1957, 1964) postulates the principle of selective exposure. People tend to both expose themselves to consistent in...

La présente étude se propose de tester la pratique des recruteurs concernant la consultation des références dans une situation écologique de recrutement, ainsi que de tester l’impact respectif du CV, de l’entretien et de la référence sur leur jugement. Le protocole du trio classique (Le Floch, Py, Brunel, & Frugnac, 2011) a été utilisé lors d’une p...

The purpose of this series of studies is to test a paper-and-pencil procedure adapted from a computerized Implicit Association Test: the SC-IAT-P (Personalized Single Category Implicit Association Test, Bardin, et al. 2014). This adaptation combines the advantages of SC-IAT (Karpinski & Steinman, 2006), IAT-P (Olson & Fazio, 2004) and paper-and-pen...

Eyewitnesses provide crucial evidence for the resolution of criminal cases. We conducted an analysis of professional activity through a literature review. It shows that investigators, even trained investigators, use predominantly inappropriate techniques, which are harmful to memory. Trained investigators alter little their standard practices. The...

For the last decades, many researchers have focused on paranormal beliefs. Beliefs in the existence of paranormal phenomena would be common and studies conducted in westernized countries have highlighted a high prevalence of individuals believing in the existence of such phenomena. Tobacyk and Milford (1984) developed the Revised Paranormal Belief...

Introduction: For the last decades, many researchers have focused on paranormal beliefs. Beliefs in the existence of paranormal phenomena would be common and studies conducted in westernized countries have highlighted a high prevalence of individuals believing in the existence of such phenomena. Tobacyk and Milford (1984) have developed the Revised...

-The Implicit Association Test (IAT) is used to assess attitude beyond the limitations of explicit measurements. Nevertheless, the test requires opposition between two attitude objects and also measures an extra-personal dimension of attitude that may reflect associations shared collectively. The first limitation can be overcome by using a Single C...

This study is based on a soft skills training program (in a business organization) that includes original projects led by teams of trainees, benefiting to external “non business” stakeholders. In line with the scientific community invitation to invest more on conditions enhancing well-being and performance in working teams (Chen & Kanfer, 2006), we...

This study is based on a soft skills training program (in a business organization) that includes original projects led by teams of trainees, benefiting to external “non business” stakeholders. In line with the scientific community invitation to invest more on conditions enhancing well-being and performance in working teams (Chen & Kanfer, 2006), we...

Abstract: Les nanotechnologies offrent des possibilités nouvelles dans des domaines variés, présentent des atouts tant pour les consommateurs que pour les industriels et par conséquent leur croissance est exponentielle. Néanmoins, il n'existe pas de définition commune des nanotechnologies. C’est donc dans un contexte d'incertitude scientifique, qu’...

This study examines the influence of familiarity on witnesses’ memory and the individual effectiveness of each of the four cognitive interview instructions in improving witnesses’ recall of scripted events. Participants (N = 195), either familiar or unfamiliar with the hospital script, were presented with a video of a surgical operation. One week l...

Many studies have demonstrated that judgments in a variety of domains are reliably influenced by judgmental anchors. Defined as the assimilation of judgments under uncertainty towards a numerical standard, we show that the occurrence of this bias in sentencing decisions depends on a magistrate’s experience of the normally accepted range of sentence...

The quality and the quantity of information recalled by eyewitnesses during a criminal investigation is of crucial importance. To increase the volume of details recalled during an interview, the cognitive interview recommends using various retrieval strategies to enhance recall. We tested a new retrieval instruction, the open depth (OD) instruction...

Résumé L’entretien cognitif est une méthode d’audition des témoins et victimes de crimes et délits qui permet d’obtenir des témoignages plus exhaustifs et aussi exacts que ceux obtenus à partir d’un questionnement classique de type questions/réponses. L’ancrage scientifique de son élaboration, faisant référence à plusieurs modèles du fonctionnement...

Introduced in the middle of the 1980s, the cognitive interview intended to perfect the techniques of interviewing witnesses and victims of crimes and offences. Since then, numerous international researchers have found an interest in this technique. The major reason for its success within the scientific community is probably due to the scientific ba...

Describing a face impairs the later recognition of this same face. This effect, known as the verbal overshadowing effect (Schooler & Engstler-Schooler, 1990), is especially observed when the description is complete (Meissner, Brigham, & Kelley, 2001). This is an actual dilemma for investigators: choosing between an efficient search of the suspect f...

The causal explanation has an effect: (1) on expectancy and value at an intra-individual level (Weiner, 2000); (2) on feeling and affective evaluation at an interpersonal level (Weiner 2000); and (3) on institutional judgment at an organizational level (Dubois, 2003). A study was conducted with pupils between the 4th and 9th grades in order to expl...

Abstract The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a normative clearsightedness training program for unemployed persons based on Kirkpatrick's model (1998). Two groups of participants were constituted: an experimental group “normative clearsightedness training” and a control group “classical training”. Results showed beneficial eff...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a normative clear-sightedness training program for unemployed persons based on Kirkpatrick's model (1998). Two groups of participants were constituted: an experimental group « normative clear-sightedness training » and a control group « classical training ». Results showed beneficial effect...

Verbal descriptions of perpetrators are important components of both the preliminary and the long-term investigation of a crime. Law enforcement officers generally attempt to obtain descriptions rather swiftly following the onset of the investigation, and those descriptions are given to officers for the identification of potential suspects in the v...

Given the absence of a consensus within the literature regarding nonverbal cues that make lie detection possible, the present research aims to test whether the facial expressions of women involved in deceitful interactions differ from those involved in truthful interactions. This comparison is made both on the factor lie versus truth and on the cha...

The influence of sixth-graders’ explanatory activity was studied on their teachers’ academic judgment. Concerning the pupils’ explanatory activity, trait-related internal explanations were chosen more to explain positive events than negative ones, whereas the reverse was observed for effort/intention-related internal explanations. In response to po...

The Cognitive Interview (Geiselman, Fisher, Firstenberg, Hutton, Sullivan, Avertissan et Prosk, 1984 ; Ginet et Py, 2001) comprised (1) four mnemonics instructions derived from the experimental literature of cognitive psychology (or memory processes), (2) several techniques intended to facilitate the communication between the officer and the witnes...

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the advantage of a modified cognitive interview (MCI) over the standard police interview (SPI) to obtain offender descriptions. In experiment 1, participants spoke with a target person during 2 minutes and were driven to the police station to be interviewed. Results showed that the MCI elicited 99 per c...

In P. Pansu & C. Louche (Eds).,Chapitre d'ouvrage de vulgarisation

In M. St-Yves, & J. Landry (Eds).

Scientific literature contains only little information about cognitive processes or strategies used in person description and the manner to improve it (see Finger and Pezdek, 1999, for an enhancement technique based on the cognitive interview). In fact, it becomes necessary to understand how this particular kind of task is organized before creating...

This study was aimed to compare the efficacy of different methods in creating unbiased lineups. In the first one, generally used by police officers, foil faces are selected for their physical similarity with only the suspect. In the second one, proposed by Wogalter, Marwitz and Leonard (1992), foil selection was based not only on target similarity...

As regard to its implication in the eyewitness testimony, since 1970, substantial studies were conducted on the other-ethnic effect which corresponds to the best recognition memory for faces of members of subject’s own ethnicity than for faces of members of other ethnicities (Malpass & Kravitz, 1969). Although this effect has been replicated many t...

The purpose of this study was to field test a new procedure for interviewing witnesses aimed at improving the memory of the person interviewed: The Cognitive Interview. The theoretical bases of this technique were drawn from models of human memory, particularly Tulving's (1983) encoding specificity hypothesis and the concept of context. The Cogniti...

Dans cet article, sont explorés 1) le caractère normatif de la consistance et 2) les liens pouvant exister entre norme d’internalité et norme de consistance et les formes de clairvoyance de ces deux normes. Dans la première étude, un questionnaire de consistance pour enfants en langue française a été construit. Ce questionnaire, composé de 12 items...

The purpose of this research was to field test two procedures for enhance eyewitnesses memories : the Cognitive Interview and cognitive encoding. While we can expect the cognitive interview and cognitive encoding techniques to enhance recall, that is to say to allow witnesses to recall more correct informations without increasing the number of erro...

Need for cognition : A French scale for children and its consequences on a sociocognitive level. This article proposes a French version of the Need for Cognition scale (Cacioppo et Petty, 1982) to be used with children aged 10 to 14. The results of the standard questionnaire validation procedure are presented. It is then explained how the Need for...

This article is aimed at providing further supporting evidence for the assumption that the cognitive processing of certain kinds of information is socially driven, even at very low levels of processing. More specifically, we hypothesize that knowledge associated with a social norm like the norm of internality (Jellison & Green, 1981; Beauvois & Dub...

The research presented here, performed with a total N = 126 young adults, sought to compare several techniques analyzing lying behavior. Instruments allowing the identification of elements, contained in an individual’s discourse, the CBCA (Criteria Based Content Analysis), the Reality Monitoring criteria, and nonverbal criteria are used. In total,...

Our research, performed with 126 young adults, compared several techniques for analysing lying behavior : Criteria Based Content Analysis, Reality Monitoring, and a non-verbal cue inventory. Half the criteria were sensitive enough to show up lying in a face-to-face situation. Discussion concerns the development of a reliable list of criteria for pr...

La connaissance, en tout cas la connaissance qui se déploie dans l'univers social et qui constitue la base de notre appréhension du monde, n'est pas le produit de rencontres entre un homme neuronal et des objets qui ne demandent qu'à être connus pour ce qu'ils sont. Il suffit de penser à la connaissance qu'ont les hommes des femmes, à celle que les...

Après avoir rappelé quelques principes d’action dérivés de la théorie de l’engagement, nous présentons, à partir d’une conception socio-cognitive, les principaux acquis des recherches effectuées sur les liens entre les théories de l’engagement, de la dissonance cognitive et de la norme d’internalité. On possède aujourd’hui un ensemble de données co...