How to tell if someone is Lying

How to tell if someone is Lying Drew Sullivan – Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project Geoff Kay – Argent Associates

The Plan • Non-verbal or visual clues to lying • Verbal clues to lying • Answer questions • Our job is to help you understand the process and issues. Be careful in applying.

Lying…Common Beliefs • Most people are pretty good at detecting lies • Liars tend to be more nervous • Liars tend to hesitate more in speech • Liars will blush • Liars more often fail to make eye contact • Liars tend to look up and to the left when they are concocting a lie • Relying on your gut or instinct is the best way

PARADOX OF DECEPTION Perception Reality Most people are poor lie detectors but highly skilled liars Most people think they are good lie detectors but poor liars

“Looking at his face I got the impression that here was a man who could be relied upon when he had given his word.” • British P.M. Neville Chamberlain following a 1938 meeting in Munich with Adolph Hitler, who swore he would not invade Czechoslovakia.

“I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy. I was able to get a sense of his soul.” • George Bush commenting on a meeting with Vladimir Putin in June 2001.

The Scientific Fact • Lies are present in: • 37% of phone conversations • 27% of face-to-face conversations • 14% of emails (Hancock, 2005). • Without training, lies are not easily detectable. • Behavior can be misleading in credibility assessment

Attempts to detect lies • Lie detector • based on theory liars are nervous • pulse rate, blood pressure, respiration, and palm sweat. • Detects people who are nervous when they lie • Detects people who are nervous that you aren't going to believe them • Works about 70 percent of the time • MRI brain scan • Lie is a cognitive activity, not a memory activity

Visual Clues • Numerous studies have been done with subject telling known lies and telling the truth. Their behavior was recorded and correlated. The results show some behaviors is correlated with lying: • Pupil dilation – Much more pronounced in liars • Vocal tension – More pronounced in liars • Vocal pitch - More pronounced in liars

Visual clues • Fidgeting – No difference • Blinking – No difference • Cooperative – More pronounced in non-liars • Smiling – No difference • Lip pulls – No difference • Pleasantness – Barely more pronounced in NL

Visual clues • Are liars less forthcoming: • Longer responses – More pronounced in non-liars • Rich details in story – More pronounced in non-liars • Rate of speech – No difference • Time before starting – No difference

Visual clues • Are stories of liars more compelling? • Stories have discrepancies/ambivalent – Slightly more pronounced in liars • Stories less logical - Slightly more pronounced in liars • Stories impersonal/distant – Definitely more pronounced in liars • Uncertainty – Slightly more pronounced in liars • Word repetition - Slightly more pronounced in liars

Visual Clues • Foot/leg movements – No difference • Posture shifts – No difference • Head/Hand movements – No difference

Visual clues • Admitted lack of memory – More pronounced in non-liars • Spontaneous corrections – More pronounced in non-liars • Unusual details – No difference

Micro expressions

Micro Expressions • People demonstrate their emotions unconsciously in their actions • Sometimes happens for less than a second • Can read the expression if you are trained to read them. • Every expression is built through a combination of muscles movements

Micro Expressions Surprise: • Raised brows – high and arching • Skin below brow is stretched • Eyelids open – white shows above and below iris • Jaw drops – lips and teeth parted but with no tension

Micro expressions • Fear

Micro Expressions Disgust

Micro Expressions

Examples in use

Verbal clues • What you see below is copied from a report form but it is exactly what was written by a man who was reporting his car stolen. However, the nature of his handwriting is not an issue so it is reproduced in typescript. The report form had on it his name and address, his car number and other similar facts that had been written in the spaces provided for them. In what you read below, is there anything that would help you to decide whether it is truthful or deceptive? If so, what?

Fri 14 oct PARKED IN HUDSON’S PARKING LOT Section C Went Shopping for 1/2 HR. Came out It was gone Description of Car 1975 Bricklin, White, Gull wing Doors Goodyear Eagle ST. tires

1. “On 22nd February 2003, a bundle of 10’s totalling $5,000 was found in locker 2. 3, where my cash drawer is kept. The date stamped on the straps of the 3. bundle is that of 31st January 2003, on this day, as on most Tuesday I am 4. responsible for balancing the vault. At approximately 2.00 pm, I balanced 5. the vault. The currency is then placed in vault locker 5. If 5 is locked then 6. the currency is placed in any open locker and locked, if I am doing the vault 7. then I will put it in locker 3. I did not have a chance to find someone to tell 8. them before they went to the vault. If I placed the bundle in locker 3 then it 9. was there from 31st January until it was discovered on 22nd February. I had 10. no knowledge of the missing money. I’ve been with this bank for more 11. than two years and if in that time you are unaware of my trustworthiness 12. then I suggest we need to come to some sort of agreement so this does not 13. happen again.”

How to tell if someone is Lying