South Deerfield Resident's Doctoral Research on Lie Detection Recognized by College, Receives Awards at National Conferences

Doctoral student August Price of South Deerfield, Mass., was recently highlighted by William James College for his neuropsychology research addressing the problem of malingering, or the act of faking or exaggerating symptoms for financial compensation or to avoid responsibility. Price is a fourth-year clinical psychology doctoral student at William James College, a graduate school of psychology located in Newton, Mass. On the surface Price's research is lie detection but the process, he says, is much more complex. He uses Event-Related Potentials (ERP), which monitor electrical brain wave activity, and was able to determine individuals are unable to "fake" the electrical activity in their brain. Price has presented this research at conferences across the country and won best poster presentation at two separate conferences, one in San Diego and one in Boston. Most recently, he gave a presentation at the 2019 American Psychological Association's Annual Convention in Chicago.