Separating wheat of truth from chaff of lies not easy
February 17th, 2011 - 6:09 pm ICT by IANSLondon, Feb 17 (IANS) The behavioural difference between liars and truth-tellers is thin. Is there a way to separate the wheat of truth from a chaff of lies? A new report discusses some of the common misconceptions about liars, reviews the limitations of lie-detection, and presents new methods for identifying liars with greater accuracy.
Besides, some people are just very good at lying, the journal Psychological Science reports.
Lie-detectors routinely make the common mistakes of overemphasizing non-verbal cues, neglecting intrapersonal variations (how a person acts when telling the truth versus when he is lying), and being overly confident in their lie-detection skills, according to a Portsmouth University statement.
Aldert Vrij, Anders Granhag and Stephen Porter of the Universities of Portsmouth in the UK, Gothenburg in Sweden and British Columbia in Canada, respectively, reviewed the research suggesting that verbal methods are more effective than non-verbal methods in detecting of deception.
And that there are psychological differences between liars and truth-tellers that can be exploited in the search for the truth.
Lying can be more cognitively demanding than truth-telling, it requires more brain power to come up with a lie and keep track of it (e.g., who was told what) than it does to tell the truth.
This research has important implications in a variety of settings, including the courtroom, police interviews, and screening individuals with criminal intent, for instance, identifying potential terrorists.
- Verbal methods of lie detection work better than non-verbal ones - Feb 17, 2011
- Liars tell well-planned stories - Sep 30, 2010
- Spot liars by listening to their 'well-planned' stories - Sep 30, 2010
- Practice can make you a perfect liar! - Feb 09, 2011
- Non-verbal cues can unmask seasoned liars - Jul 20, 2011
- Consumers tell lies to get rewards (Lead) - Mar 16, 2012
- Consumers can tell lies to get rewards - Mar 16, 2012
- A machine that can tell when you're lying - Mar 27, 2012
- Spotting two-timing boyfriend made easy - Dec 15, 2011
- Not able to detect lies may be sign of dementia - Apr 17, 2011
- Soon, eye movement-based lie detector test - Jul 17, 2010
- Elderly tend to be bad liars - May 30, 2011
- New book debunks myths about lying, deception - Aug 09, 2009
- The more you trust others, the better you can detect lies: Study - Aug 14, 2010
- Hips don't lie: Scientists - Nov 14, 2011
Tags: brain power, british columbia, chaff, common misconceptions, criminal intent, easy london, gothenburg, liars, lie detection, london feb, non verbal cues, police interviews, portsmouth university, psychological differences, psychological science, science reports, screening individuals, stephen porter, telling the truth, truth tellers