The McMartin Sexual Abuse Trial: Operant Seeing and the Dangers of Expert Opinion - 7.22.2022

The video of this entire interview can be viewed here:

https://youtu.be/xA3ZDZ8COBM

Joseph Wyatt, Ph.D., is a retired forensic psychologist, and previous guest on Criminal Behaviorology. In 2002 he took an interest in the infamous McMartin Preschool trial, which took place in California. If you have not heard of this case, take some time to look up the story. It is simply the most shocking case of false accusation I have encountered. Joe takes a critical, and behavior analytic, viewpoint regarding the expert opinion of an archeologist who claimed to have discovered evidence of sinister tunnels built under the preschool buildings. These tunnels would seem to confirm the allegations of secret sexual abuse and ritualistic torture. But is there an alternative conclusion - one with a behavior analytic explanation?

Show Highlights:

- A respected preschool center is accused of crimes so shocking it made news the world over.

- The use of anatomically detailed dolls to facilitate interviews with children. The misapplication of these methods, and the belief that children could not make up such explicit stories, led to the unjust prosecution in the McMartin case.

- How children could be influenced by the interviewing techniques used in the case.

- The parents of children involved in the case, in a very emotional state, asked for an archeological analysis to provide evidence of secret tunnels allegedly put in place to commit unspeakable crimes beneath the building. Ground penetrating radar, and a detailed report followed that supported the existence of underground tunnels.

- Skinner’s concept of “Operant Seeing.” Is this an explanation for why an expert archeologist’s flawed conclusions when the totality of the evidence clearly indicates an innocent explanation? Confirmatory bias - the pursuing of conclusions before the facts.

- The legacy of the McMartin trial. How could so many be so wrong about such a serious criminal case? The real victims of McMartin case.

McMartin Sexual Abuse Trial and the 2002 article by Joseph Wyatt:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McMartin_preschool_trial

https://mds.marshall.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&context=psychology_faculty

The film Indictment (starring James Woods):

https://youtu.be/uMijKJg-7rk

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113421/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

Joseph Wyatt on Criminal Behaviorology - Interview with the Forensic Psychologist (2019):

https://anchor.fm/criminalbehaviorology/episodes/Interview-with-the-Forensic-Psychologist--Dr--W--Joseph-Wyatt-discusses-his-long-career-as-it-is-detailed-in-his-book---The-Breaking-Point-Killing-And-Other-True-Cases-of-Murder-and-Malice-e3aq6g

Look up CrimBehav on Facebook:

facebook.com/CrimBehav.

Criminal Behaviorology on Blogger.

CB Podcast Sites:

https://criminalbehaviorology.podomatic.com

https://anchor.fm/criminalbehaviorology

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/criminal-behaviorology/id1441879795?mt=2&uo=4
https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy83MzY4OWFjL3BvZGNhc3QvcnNz
https://open.spotify.com/show/5VM7Sjv762u7nb91YWGczZ
https://www.breaker.audio/criminal-behaviorology
https://overcast.fm/itunes1441879795/criminal-behaviorology
https://pca.st/Q38w
https://radiopublic.com/criminal-behaviorology-GEv2AZ
https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/anchor-podcasts/criminal-behaviorology

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKSVoZOBwCG28xMnuPq_Gtw

On Locals Social Media:

https://criminalbehaviorology.locals.com/?showPosts=1

https://criminalbehaviorology.locals.com

Please write a review on any of our podcast sites listed above. Questions, comments, and requests for transcripts to:
criminalbehaviorology@gmail.com

Thank you for listening.