There are thousands of resources on lie-detection. Nothing seems to agree with the other, and it's difficult to sift through the BS to find the factual information. Using the Behavioral Table of Elements and about 6,000 research documents and 120 years of research, this pocket-sized guide should be handy enough to get you well on your way to seeing the truth.
ADVANCED QUESTIONING TECHNIQUES
- Do not phrase your questions in the form of a direct accusation. Instead of asking directly if someone cheated, ask if anything interesting happened last night.
- If a question sounds rehearsed, ask them about the events out of order or backwards. They likely didn't rehearse it that way.
- After someone denies a question about wrongdoing, ask them what should happen to the person that DID do it.
- If you ask a question directly, do it by surprise and look for hesitancy.
- Followup with denials with the word, 'Really?'
- Ask questions with bait in them: "Is there any reason someone would have said they saw you there last night?"
- Set the Scene: Use a serious or playful tone in order to enhance their anxiety or create more comfort as needed.
- Make deliberate speech errors and display sloppy movements in order to lower suspect's defenses
- Don't ask questions you don't want the answer.
- Make an accusation far worse than their offense and cause them to lower the bar and admit to the 'smaller' offense
Visual Signs of Deception
- Limited Physical Expression: Movements and body language (especially in the upper body) will be minimized to a lesser extent than the person's norm due to more effort being cognitively expended.
- Hand-to-Face Gestures: Anytime during an answer to a question the hands touch the face or mouth.
- Shoulder Shrugs: Shrugging shoulders (especially a single-sided shoulder shrug) are indicative of deception.
- Foot Withdrawal: The sudden backward pull of the feet under a chair.
- Throat Clasping: The reactive movement of the hands or fingers to the throat or neck.
- Lip Tension: Tightening or sudden muscular rigidity of the lips in response to a question.
- Elbow Closure: The inward movement of the elbows when they are on a table.
- Arm Closure: The instinctual movement of the arms toward the body while standing.
- The head moves in a mechanical fashion without synchronicity with the words spoken, indicating conscious movement.
- Expressions will be limited to the mouth area during faked emotions of happiness, sadness, anger and guilt.
- Gestural Mismatch: When someone is saying they love their wife while shaking their head 'no'.
- Gestural Timing: There is a gap between a verbal expression of an emotion and its corresponding body movement or facial expression.
- Objects: Placing objects in between you and them as a barrier.
Verbal Signs of Deception
- Hesitancy: Stalling or hesitating longer than normal before answering or replying to a question or accusation.
- Distancing from Offense: Substitution of harsh words for euphemisms: Kill=Hurt, Sex=Sexual Relations, Steal=Take,
- Pitch: A sudden rise in the pitch of the voice when questioned about an event.
- Speed: Increasing the speed of speech while lying to lessen the amount of stress it causes and to get the lie out as fast as possible.
- Pronoun Absence: Retelling a story or answering a question about events without the use of pronouns.
- Resumé Statement: An answer that begins with the suspect talking about their accomplishments, goodness, holiness, sense of community or reasons they shouldn't be questioned because of their character.
- Contraction Absence: The immediate removal of contractions: Didn't=Did not, Couldn't = Could not, Wouldn't = Would not.
- Question Reversal: Turning the question or suspicion back on the person asking the questions.
- Vagueness: When a suspect provides vague and non-descriptive details about the event in question.
- Politeness: The sudden and usually drastic increase in their use of politeness words like 'sir', 'ma'am', etc.
- Over-Apology: The sudden and usually drastic increase in the use of apology words like 'sorry' even if it's unrelated to the event.
- Mini-Confession: Confessing to other smaller things they've done in order to distract from the event in question.
- Exclusions: Phrases designed to fog the facts: 'As far as I know...' 'To the best of my knowledge... Basically, probably, I suppose...' etc.
- Chronology: Telling a series of events in exact order instead of leading with the emotional event or experience first.
- Non-Answers: You ask, "Did you cheat on me?" and he responds, "You know I'm not like that."
- Statements Sounding like Questions: The rise in pitch at the end of a statement. = Seeking approval.
General Signals of Deception
- Noticing a much more relaxed mood when the subject is changed.
- Noticing no anger or indignation when the suspect is accused.
- Immediate and rehearsed answers to your questions.
- Answering your questions with questions.
- He uses humor or sarcasm to dilute your concerns over an issue.
- Numbers relating to his 'facts' are the same or multiples of one another.
- Audible breathing. (louder because he's trying to control it)
- Accusing other people to redirect your attention.
notes and references
Beattie, G. (2003). Visible Thought: The New Psychology of Body Language.
Birdwhistell, R. (1952). Introduction to Kinesics. University of Louisville Press.
Bolting, K. a. (1995). Sex Appeal. Macmillan.
Bryan, W. (1971). The Psychology of Jury Selection. New York, NY, USA: Vantage Press.
Burton, S. (2000). Impostors: Six Kinds of Liar. Viking Press.
Capella, J. N. (1993). The Facial Feedback in Human Interaction: Review and Speculation (Vol. 12). Journal of Language and Social Psychology.
Caro, M. (2003). Caro's Book of Poker Tells. Cardoza Publishing.
Cashdan, E. (1998). Smiles, Speech and Body Posture: How women and men display sociometric status and power (Vol. 22). Journal of Nonverbal Behavior.
Collett, P. (1977). Social Rules and Social Behavior. Oxford: Blackwell.
Collett, P. (2003). The Book of Tells. Doubleday Books.
Coss, R. Mood-Provoking Visual Stimuli. UCLA.
Critchley, M. (1975). Silent Language. London: Butterworth.
Darwin, C. (1872). The Expression of Emotion in Man Animals. New York, NY, USA: Appleton Century Crofts.
Davitz, J. R. (1964). The Communication of Emotional Meaning. New York, NY, USA: McGraw - Hill.
Dimberg, U. T. (2000). Unconscious Facial Reactions to Emotional Facial Expressions (Vol. 11). Psychological Science.
Dobbs, J. M. (1992). Testosterone, smiling and facial appearance (Vol. 21). Journal of Nonverbal Behavior.
Effron, D. (1972). Gesture, Race and Culture . Mouton: The Hague.
Ekman, P. (1980). About Brows: emotional and conversational signals. Human Ethology , 169-248.
Ekman, P. (1973). Cross-cultural studies in facial expression. Academic Press.
Ekman, P. D. (1990). The Duchenne smile: emotional expression and brain physiology II . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (58), 339-354.
Ekman, P. (1992). Facial expression of emotion: new findings, new questions. Psychological Science , 3, 34-49.
Ekman, P. (1993). Facial Expressions of Emotion (Vol. 48). American Psychologist.
Ekman, P. n. (1975). Unmasking the Face. London: Prentice Hall .
Ekman, P. (1994). Strong Evidence for Universals in Facial Expressions: a reply to Russell's mistaken critique (Vol. 115). Psychological Bulletin.
Ekman, P. (1969). The Repertoire of nonverbal behavior:categories, origins, usage and coding (Vol. 1). Semiotica.
Ekman, P., & Friesen, W. V. (1969, Feb). Nonverbal leakage and clues to deception. Psychiatry: JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF INTERPERSONAL PROCESSES .
Ellyson, S. L. (1985). Power, Dominance and Nonverbal Behaviour. Springer - Verlag.
Feldman, S. (1959). Mannerisms of Speech and Gesture in Everyday Life. International University Press.
Flugel, J. C. (1930). The Psychology of Clothes. London: Hogarth Press.
Glass, L. (2002). I Know what You're Thinking: Using the Four Codes of Reading People to Improve Your Life. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Goffman, E. (1963). Behaviour in Public Places. Illinois: Free Press.
Gordon, R. L. (1987). Interview Strategy, Technology and Tactics (4th ed.). Illinois: Dorsey Press.
Grammer, K. (1990). Strangers Meet: Laughter and nonverbal signs of interest in opposite-sex encounters. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior , 14 (4), 209-237A.
Grant, E. C. (n.d.). An Ethological Description of Non-verbal Behaviour During Interviews. British Journal of Medical Psychology .
Henley, N. M. (1977). Body Politics; Power, Sex and Non-Verbal Communication. New Jersey, USA: Prentice Hall.
Hess, E. The tell-tale eye: How your eyes reveal hidden thoughts and emotions. New York, NY, USA: Van Nostrand Reinhold Co.
Hind, R. (1972). Non Verbal Communication. Cambridge University Press.
James, W. T. (1932). A Study of the Expression of Bodily Posture. Journal of Genetic Psychology , 405-437.
Keating, C. F. (1985). Human Dominance Signals: the primate in us. (J. F. Steve L. Ellyson, Ed.) Springer Series in Social Psychology.
Kendon, A. (1970). Movement coordination in social interaction: Some examples described. Acta Psychologica , 32, 101-125.
Kendon, A. (1975). Organisation of Behaviour in Face-to-Face Interaction. Mouton.
Knapp, M. (1978). Non Verbal Communication in Human Interaction (2nd ed.). New York, NY, USA: Holt, Reinhart and Winston.
Lafrance, M. a. (1999). A meta-analysis of sex differences in smiling. Nonverbal Communication and Gender .
Lamb, W. (1979). Body Code. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Lamb, W. (1965). Posture and Gesture. London: Duckworth.
Latter, C. (1998). The Women's Perspective on an American Obsession. Binghamton, NY: Haworth Press.
Lewis, M. a. (1993). Lying and Deception in Everyday Life. New York, NY, USA: Guilford Press.
Lyle, J. (1989). Understanding Body Language. Hamlyn.
McIntosh, D. N. Facial Feedback Hypothesis: evidence, implications and directions. Motivation and Emotion , 20 (2).
Mcneil, D. The Face: A Guided Tour. London: Little Brown and Co.
Mitchell, M. E. (1968). How to Read the Language of the Face. New York, NY, USA: Macmillan.
Morris, D. (1979). Manwatching: A Field-Guide to Human Behavior. Oxford: Harry N Abrams (April 1979).
Morris, D. (1998). PhD (Vol. 1). New Jersey, NJ: RANDOM HOUSE.
Morris, D. (1970). The Naked Ape. Jonathan Cope Ltd. and Bantam Publishing.
Navarro, J. (2011). Clues to Deceit: A Practical List. Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Navarro, Joe. (n.d.). Psychology Today. Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/spycatcher/201112/body-language-vs-micro-expressions
Nierenberg, G. (1995). The Art of Negotiating. New York: Barnes Noble; First Edition edition / Hawthorn Books.
O'connell, S. (1998). Mindreading: An Investigation into How we Learn to Love and Lie. Doubleday.
Pease, A. a. (2006). The Difinitive Book of Body Language (1 ed.). Bantam.
Provine, R. R. Contagious Yawning and Laughter: Significance for sensory features and the evolution of social behavior. New York, NY, USA: Academic Press.
Quilliam, S. (1996). Body Language Secrets. Thorsons.
Russell, J. A.-D. The Psychology of Facial Expression. Cambridge University Press.
Russo, N. (1967). Connotation of Seating Arrangements. Cornell Journal of Social Relations .
Scheflen, A. E. (1976). Human Territories. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Schutz, W. C. (1958). A Three-Dimensional Theory of Interpersonal Behaviour. New York, NY: Holt Reinhart and Winston.
Sommer, R. (1969). Personal Space: The Behavioral Basis of Design. Englewood Cliffs, NJ , USA: Prentice Hall.
Sorrell, W. (10/1968). The Story of the Human Hand. Littlehampton Book Services Ltd; First Edition edition.
Strodtbeck, F. a. (1961). The Social Dimensions of a 12-Man Jury. Sociometry .
Szas, S. (1978). Body Language of Children. New York: Norton.
Vrij, A. (2001). Detecting Lies and Deceit. John Wiley & Sons.
Weisfeld, G. E. Erectness of posture as an indicator of dominance or success in humans. (J. Reeve, Ed.) 6 (2).
Westen, R. (n.d.). Parenting. Retrieved 08 08, 2013, from How to Decode Your Kid's Body Language: http://www.parents.com/toddlers-preschoolers/development/behavioral/how-to-decode-your-kids-body-language/
Wolfe, C. (1948). A Psychology of Gesture. Methuen.
Birdwhistell, R. (1952). Introduction to Kinesics. University of Louisville Press.
Bolting, K. a. (1995). Sex Appeal. Macmillan.
Bryan, W. (1971). The Psychology of Jury Selection. New York, NY, USA: Vantage Press.
Burton, S. (2000). Impostors: Six Kinds of Liar. Viking Press.
Capella, J. N. (1993). The Facial Feedback in Human Interaction: Review and Speculation (Vol. 12). Journal of Language and Social Psychology.
Caro, M. (2003). Caro's Book of Poker Tells. Cardoza Publishing.
Cashdan, E. (1998). Smiles, Speech and Body Posture: How women and men display sociometric status and power (Vol. 22). Journal of Nonverbal Behavior.
Collett, P. (1977). Social Rules and Social Behavior. Oxford: Blackwell.
Collett, P. (2003). The Book of Tells. Doubleday Books.
Coss, R. Mood-Provoking Visual Stimuli. UCLA.
Critchley, M. (1975). Silent Language. London: Butterworth.
Darwin, C. (1872). The Expression of Emotion in Man Animals. New York, NY, USA: Appleton Century Crofts.
Davitz, J. R. (1964). The Communication of Emotional Meaning. New York, NY, USA: McGraw - Hill.
Dimberg, U. T. (2000). Unconscious Facial Reactions to Emotional Facial Expressions (Vol. 11). Psychological Science.
Dobbs, J. M. (1992). Testosterone, smiling and facial appearance (Vol. 21). Journal of Nonverbal Behavior.
Effron, D. (1972). Gesture, Race and Culture . Mouton: The Hague.
Ekman, P. (1980). About Brows: emotional and conversational signals. Human Ethology , 169-248.
Ekman, P. (1973). Cross-cultural studies in facial expression. Academic Press.
Ekman, P. D. (1990). The Duchenne smile: emotional expression and brain physiology II . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (58), 339-354.
Ekman, P. (1992). Facial expression of emotion: new findings, new questions. Psychological Science , 3, 34-49.
Ekman, P. (1993). Facial Expressions of Emotion (Vol. 48). American Psychologist.
Ekman, P. n. (1975). Unmasking the Face. London: Prentice Hall .
Ekman, P. (1994). Strong Evidence for Universals in Facial Expressions: a reply to Russell's mistaken critique (Vol. 115). Psychological Bulletin.
Ekman, P. (1969). The Repertoire of nonverbal behavior:categories, origins, usage and coding (Vol. 1). Semiotica.
Ekman, P., & Friesen, W. V. (1969, Feb). Nonverbal leakage and clues to deception. Psychiatry: JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF INTERPERSONAL PROCESSES .
Ellyson, S. L. (1985). Power, Dominance and Nonverbal Behaviour. Springer - Verlag.
Feldman, S. (1959). Mannerisms of Speech and Gesture in Everyday Life. International University Press.
Flugel, J. C. (1930). The Psychology of Clothes. London: Hogarth Press.
Glass, L. (2002). I Know what You're Thinking: Using the Four Codes of Reading People to Improve Your Life. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Goffman, E. (1963). Behaviour in Public Places. Illinois: Free Press.
Gordon, R. L. (1987). Interview Strategy, Technology and Tactics (4th ed.). Illinois: Dorsey Press.
Grammer, K. (1990). Strangers Meet: Laughter and nonverbal signs of interest in opposite-sex encounters. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior , 14 (4), 209-237A.
Grant, E. C. (n.d.). An Ethological Description of Non-verbal Behaviour During Interviews. British Journal of Medical Psychology .
Henley, N. M. (1977). Body Politics; Power, Sex and Non-Verbal Communication. New Jersey, USA: Prentice Hall.
Hess, E. The tell-tale eye: How your eyes reveal hidden thoughts and emotions. New York, NY, USA: Van Nostrand Reinhold Co.
Hind, R. (1972). Non Verbal Communication. Cambridge University Press.
James, W. T. (1932). A Study of the Expression of Bodily Posture. Journal of Genetic Psychology , 405-437.
Keating, C. F. (1985). Human Dominance Signals: the primate in us. (J. F. Steve L. Ellyson, Ed.) Springer Series in Social Psychology.
Kendon, A. (1970). Movement coordination in social interaction: Some examples described. Acta Psychologica , 32, 101-125.
Kendon, A. (1975). Organisation of Behaviour in Face-to-Face Interaction. Mouton.
Knapp, M. (1978). Non Verbal Communication in Human Interaction (2nd ed.). New York, NY, USA: Holt, Reinhart and Winston.
Lafrance, M. a. (1999). A meta-analysis of sex differences in smiling. Nonverbal Communication and Gender .
Lamb, W. (1979). Body Code. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Lamb, W. (1965). Posture and Gesture. London: Duckworth.
Latter, C. (1998). The Women's Perspective on an American Obsession. Binghamton, NY: Haworth Press.
Lewis, M. a. (1993). Lying and Deception in Everyday Life. New York, NY, USA: Guilford Press.
Lyle, J. (1989). Understanding Body Language. Hamlyn.
McIntosh, D. N. Facial Feedback Hypothesis: evidence, implications and directions. Motivation and Emotion , 20 (2).
Mcneil, D. The Face: A Guided Tour. London: Little Brown and Co.
Mitchell, M. E. (1968). How to Read the Language of the Face. New York, NY, USA: Macmillan.
Morris, D. (1979). Manwatching: A Field-Guide to Human Behavior. Oxford: Harry N Abrams (April 1979).
Morris, D. (1998). PhD (Vol. 1). New Jersey, NJ: RANDOM HOUSE.
Morris, D. (1970). The Naked Ape. Jonathan Cope Ltd. and Bantam Publishing.
Navarro, J. (2011). Clues to Deceit: A Practical List. Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Navarro, Joe. (n.d.). Psychology Today. Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/spycatcher/201112/body-language-vs-micro-expressions
Nierenberg, G. (1995). The Art of Negotiating. New York: Barnes Noble; First Edition edition / Hawthorn Books.
O'connell, S. (1998). Mindreading: An Investigation into How we Learn to Love and Lie. Doubleday.
Pease, A. a. (2006). The Difinitive Book of Body Language (1 ed.). Bantam.
Provine, R. R. Contagious Yawning and Laughter: Significance for sensory features and the evolution of social behavior. New York, NY, USA: Academic Press.
Quilliam, S. (1996). Body Language Secrets. Thorsons.
Russell, J. A.-D. The Psychology of Facial Expression. Cambridge University Press.
Russo, N. (1967). Connotation of Seating Arrangements. Cornell Journal of Social Relations .
Scheflen, A. E. (1976). Human Territories. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Schutz, W. C. (1958). A Three-Dimensional Theory of Interpersonal Behaviour. New York, NY: Holt Reinhart and Winston.
Sommer, R. (1969). Personal Space: The Behavioral Basis of Design. Englewood Cliffs, NJ , USA: Prentice Hall.
Sorrell, W. (10/1968). The Story of the Human Hand. Littlehampton Book Services Ltd; First Edition edition.
Strodtbeck, F. a. (1961). The Social Dimensions of a 12-Man Jury. Sociometry .
Szas, S. (1978). Body Language of Children. New York: Norton.
Vrij, A. (2001). Detecting Lies and Deceit. John Wiley & Sons.
Weisfeld, G. E. Erectness of posture as an indicator of dominance or success in humans. (J. Reeve, Ed.) 6 (2).
Westen, R. (n.d.). Parenting. Retrieved 08 08, 2013, from How to Decode Your Kid's Body Language: http://www.parents.com/toddlers-preschoolers/development/behavioral/how-to-decode-your-kids-body-language/
Wolfe, C. (1948). A Psychology of Gesture. Methuen.
