Can You Tell If Someone Is Lying?
By Steven Gillman
Can you tell if someone is lying? No, say some scientists - at least not consistently. This is what their research shows, but the research done in this area is often flawed in several important aspects. Let’s take a look at a couple of those flaws.
Aldert Vrij of the University of Portsmouth in England, says, “People are very good liars when nothing is at stake,” and adds, “But a lab setting is not real life.” You see, most experiments on lie-detection have researchers telling subjects when to lie and when not to. These lies have no real effect on subject’s lives, because there are no meaningful rewards or punishments for honesty or dishonesty. It is easy to imagine that this affects their reactions.
To correct this deficiency in the research Vrij tried looking at real-life police interrogation videos. He figured that this made for more relevant research. We don’t really care if we can or can’t detect “pretend lies” in a laboratory, after all. We want the ability to detect lies in real life situations.
He concentrated on cases where the true facts of the matter were later determined. In other words, he knew when the subjects were lying or telling the truth in the videos. What Vrij found was that there were fairly reliable clues to whether a person is lying, but that these are not universal signs. They are indicators unique to the individual.
For example, a person might consistently avert his gaze when lying, while another might have greater eye-contact when lying. Most research doesn’t test for these individual factors, and that is why it seems to indicate that lie-detecting can’t be done consistently. What Vrij demonstrated is that a person who takes into account the individual’s habits and patterns of behavior can learn to detect lying.
Research Often Ignores Lie Detection Examples
Sometimes researchers just ignore real-life examples of lie detection skills. They don’t address the fact that some people do have the ability to consistently detect lies with a high degree of accuracy.
In many studies of federal agents, forensic psychologists, and other groups of professionals, Maureen O’Sullivan, of the University of San Francisco, found that a small percentage can consistently detect lying with 80% accuracy or better. Unfortunately, only 15, out of 13,000 people she tested, consistently performed at this level. But just the fact that some can do this well suggests there are things we can learn to improve our own lie-detecting skills.
The important point in O’Sullivan’s research is that although it is a small number of people who detect lies, they do it consistently. They aren’t just making lucky guesses. It is also important that they were able to do this with strangers who they knew nothing about beforehand. How much better would they be at lie detection if they could first observe the liars and learn a little about each?
So can you tell if someone is lying? A suggestion: ignore the flawed research of overly-skeptical scientists, and find out for yourself if you can.
Copyright Steve Gillman. To learn the indicators of lying, how to trap a liar, how to get a confession and much more, read the new e-book: Lying - Signs Of Lying And How To Trap A Liar. Visit: http://www.99reports.com/lying.html
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