13 Detection of Deception

Question 1

Define deception

Answer 1

“A successful or unsuccessful deliberate attempt, without forewarning, to create in another a belief which the communicator considers to be untrue”

Question 2

What are 3 types of deception?

Answer 2

Deliberate (or intentional): can not be the result of false memory or belief

Without forewarning: you cannot say a magician lied to you when you should reasonably expect a degree of deception

Communicators believe to be untrue: if I was in a room and tell everyone it is raining (but I know it not to be) it is deception regardless of whether it did start raining or not: involves two people

Question 3

What are three types of lies?

Answer 3

(1) Outright lies: information completely contradictory to the truth (lies and then tells the police they didn’t do it)
(2) Exaggerations: the truth is embellished. the facts are overstated (or information is expressed in a way that exceeds the truth)
(3) Subtle lies: literal truths that are designed to mislead. telling the truth, but concealing important information (e.g. evading the question or emitting irrelevant facts

Question 4

What are five reasons to lie?

Answer 4

1. To gain personal advantage
2. To avoid punishment
3. To make a positive impression on others
4. To protect themselves from embarrassment/disapproval
5. For the sake of social relationships (to protect or help)

Question 5

Which reasons to lie are self-oriented?

Answer 5

Benefit of ourselves

1. To gain personal advantage
2. To avoid punishment
3. To make a positive impression on others
4. To protect themselves from embarrassment/disapproval

Question 6

Which reasons to lie are other-oriented?

Answer 6

Social situations

5. For the sake of social relationships (to protect or help)

Question 7

What is the frequency of lying?

Answer 7

Kids lie 2-3 times a day (mostly denying responsibility for something) and community members told 1 lie/day and university students lie 2 times a day. Most lies were self-serving

Question 8

What does the frequency of lying depend on?

Answer 8

(1) The personality and gender of the liar
- extroverts lie more than introverts also women tell more social lies and to improve appearance, where men lie to exaggerate wealth

(2) The situation in which the lie is told
- Dating (90%) and job interviews (83%) both elicit lying mostly exaggerations

(3) People to whom the lie is told
- the lowest rate of lying to a spouse, mostly subtle lies

Question 9

What are three ways to catch a liar?

Answer 9

1. Observe their verbal and nonverbal behaviour
2. Analyse the content of what they say
3. Examine their physiological responses

Question 10

What are the behavioural indicators of deception?

Answer 10

1. Emotion
   - Deception encourages emotions such as guilt, fear, excitement (‘duping delight’). These motions cause arousal which causes behavioural markers such as fidgeting, difficulty get the story out, taking a long time to answer etc.
   - Emotions may influence a liar’s nonverbal behaviour (NVB)
2. Content complexity: lying can be difficult to do
   - People engaged in cognitevely complex tasks exhibit different nonverbal behaviours -> can as people tel tell things in reverse order, may be able to indicate who is lying
3. Attempted behavioural control
   - Liars may attempt to control their behaviour in order to avoid getting caught
   • > When liars do this, they sometimes overcontrol themselves, resulting in behaviour that looks rehearsed and rigid, and speech that sounds too smooth
   • > Nonverbal behaviour is more difficult to control than verbal behaviour

Verbal cues:

• Higher pitch of voice
• Increased response latency
• Increased errors in speech
• Shorter length of the description

Nonverbal cues

• Decreased nodding
• Decreased limb and hand movement

4. Micro expressions
   - Liars do not seem to show signs of nervousness such as gaze aversion & fidgeting
   - Professional lie detector’s ability to accurately classify truth and lies is about 55%
   - Analyses of nonverbal behaviour are not accepted as evidence in criminal courts

Question 11

What is duping delight?

Answer 11

The pleasure of being able to manipulate someone, often made visible to others by flashing a smile at an inappropriate moment.

Question 12

What are the content indicators of deception?

Answer 12

Statement validity assessment (SVA)

• Started for kids claiming sexual assault (whether their story was coached or true), later extended to adults
• main role: guiding police investigations but has been used as an expert testimony

Three major elements:

1. Semi-structured Interview
2. Criteria Based content analysis (CBCA)
3. Evaluation of the CBCA outcome via a set of questions (validity check-list)

Question 13

Explain Liars based on CBCA element?

Answer 13

Liars tend to lack the imagination/knowledge to invent relevant and important details. They are also wary of including too many details in case they forget or that can be checked and proven false. They desperately want to sound credible

Question 14

Does SVA work?

Answer 14

Vrij (2005) reviewed 37 field and lab studies on CBCA

• Field: look at cases of alleged sexual abuse
• Experimental: had people lie or tell the truth, BUT less at stake so people might feel comfortable lying

Found:

• Criterion 3 (truth-tellers give more information than liars) received the most support: in 80% of studies truth-tellers included more details
• Cognitive criteria (1-13) received more support than motivation criteria (14-18)
• In 92% of experimental studies, truth-tellers received higher CBCA scores than liars
• Trained evaluators often achieve above chance classification

Question 15

What are some concerns about SVA?

Answer 15

• No formal decision rules, profiles for truth or deception, or cut points
• Criteria should be given different weight
• Different types of lies (from subtle to outright) may yield different levels/kinds of characteristics
• SVA assessments are subjective and inter-rater reliability can be low, even after extensive training
• CBCA assessments of written statements are time-consuming and even training may not improve accuracy

Question 16

What is the validity checklist?

Answer 16

Interview characteristics (types of questioning)
Motivation to report
Investigative questions (consistency with other evidence)

Question 17

What are the outcomes of the score you get from the CBCA?

Answer 17

The higher you score, the more likely it is that this is a truthful account: each criterion strengthens a story. But they factor in the alternative interpretation of the score (validity checklist)

Question 18

What do they need to check in the CBCA (or validity checklist?)

Answer 18

• Need to consider the age and verbal social skills of the storyteller e.g., is the language characteristic of a 5-year-old
• Need to check that the interview style sufficiently allowed the criteria to be fulfilled if they are present
• Need to check their story against external evidence

Question 19

What are the accuracy rates of professional lie catchers?

Answer 19

Nonverbal: Truth (55%) and Lie (55%)
CBCA: Truth (76%) and (68%)

Chance rate = 50%
Recent evidence suggests that higher accuracy rates by combining nonverbal and CBCA

Question 20

What is the holistic approach (or whole approach) to detecting deception?

Answer 20

DePaulo (2003) examined 158 cues of deception and found evidence that liars:

• Are less forthcoming
• Tell less compelling tales
• Are less positive and pleasant
• Are tenser
• Include less ordinary imperfections and more unusual details
• But: still no clear cut-offs or profiles for lies and liars

Question 21

Discuss the reasons on why it is difficult to detect deception

Answer 21

1. Lie detection is difficult and there is no give-away clue
2. Othello error: truth-tellers may show similar behaviour to liars because of emotions, thinking hard or trying to control themselves
3. Adequate comparisons between truth-telling and lie-telling are not made (small talk vs interrogation)
4. People (including police) hold/are taught incorrect beliefs about how liars behave
5. Liars use countermeasures (e.g. can train themselves to beat techniques)
6. Deception research is often conducted in university labs and the stakes aren’t high enough
7. The Brokaw hazard: individual differences in emotional expression, vocal and body movement characteristics
8. Individual differences in the ability to control: some people are ‘natural liars’ or have trained themselves to be very effective liars
9. Cultural differences in nonverbal behaviour

Question 22

Is there such a thing as typical behaviour?

Answer 22

Typical deceptive behaviour does not exist! There is no Pinocchio’s nose

Question 23

Is there a perfect method for deception detection?

Answer 23

There are no perfect methods for deception detection using behavioural or content analysis indicators