Psychology 323: Deception

1. Psychology 323: Deception J. P. Rosenfeld, Ph.D. jp-rosenfeld@northwestern.edu

2. We should spend an equal time on phenomenology and MECHANISMS of deception…. …as we do on DETECTION of deception. But there is a lot more research-based (real) knowledge about the latter, so most of the time, that’s what we will cover.

3. Maybe this is because deception may not be a fundamental psychological process… Think of courses such as • Psychology of Learning • Psychology of Personality • Psychology of Memory. • Class?

4. Regarding deception detection; there are two approaches: 1. Behavioral (a) non-verbal (b) Verbal 2. Physiological: Nervous system activity. ….We start with Behavioral:

5. Are the following 5 ideas True? 1. People typically reveal their lies by fidgeting, acting nervous, avoiding eye contact, etc. 2. Therefore, we are rather good lie detectors (unless we are very stupid). 3. This is especially true when we detect lies in those close to us. 4. Criminals, con-men, professional crooks, and such, however, are harder to spot for us lay people. 5. Fortunately, trained professionals (police, FBI) are superior lie detectors, so they protect us against pros.

6. We wish we had a Pinocchio's nose indicator

7. But we don’t… • …NONE of those assertions is true! • Mucho Mythology in the field…. (These slides through #32 are based on Vrij (2008) chapters 1,2.)

8. People think they are great lie detectors. But they miss many lies. Why?

9. (1a) If someone thinks you look great, why argue? (Vrij: Ostrich effect)

10. (1b) I’ll ask no questions……(and hope you tell no lies!) • Bill to Hillary and to an aide: “Ah did not have sex with that woman…..”

11. (2) Lie detection is tough! • There is no behavioral or physiological specific index of deception, though things are not as bad a Vrij suggests: P300, fMRI

12. Beware of internet & Media claims! • Pavlidis’ thermal imaging not so great… • BEOS BrainElectrical Oscillations Signature is Bogus! • “Brain Fingerprinting?!” (See my critique….)

13. How common is lying? • A) once a year? • B) once a month? • C) once a week? • D) More than daily?

14. Definition of lying: • OK, give one…

15. Intentional, without warning, misinform or mislead another. • Liar must believe information is false. • Lie could fail.

16. Taxonomy of Deceptions (Types of Lies)

17. From Bad-est to least bad: • (1) Outright Lie– (total B.S.) • John Edwards: “I am not the father of that child, no way, I’ll happily take a DNA test….” • He was stating “I didn’t do it” while knowing he did.

18. (2)Exaggerations (overstatements) or Minimizations(understatements) • “I am the most eminently famous researcher in the Psych. Department.” (but almost…) • “This is an important discovery of mine not yet published” (which was actually rejected by one journal and now in review at another.)

19. (3) Subtle Lies (Omit details) • Clinton: “Ah did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinski…” • (Not according to the usual definition: intercourse.)

20. (4) Concealment… • “How was your day?…mine was as usual…” • [Heaven forbid she asks me about my day!]

21. Why do people Lie?

22. Many reasons: • (1) Material Gain • (2) Avoid loss/punishment • (3) Avoid embarrassment • (4) Make good impression (& get the job) • All these involve gain for oneself.

23. The other kind of (Other-directed) Lie: • Altruistic Lies: “You made a great impression…” Telling a gravely ill person (child) that she will be fine..

24. Why is it hard to know for sure how often people lie? Self report fails because (1) people don’t want to recall & (2) don’t remember. But 2+ times a day is a fair estimate.

25. Whom do people lie to? • Strangers more than close contacts. (Why?)

26. Attributes on which to classify Liars:

27. (1) Gender: • Men tell more self-oriented lies. • Women tell more other oriented lies

28. (2) Age • What is definite minimum age for lies in children? (2,4,6,8,10) See Vrij, P. 27-28. • What motivates youngest children’s lies? (Gain of say cookies? Avoid punishment? (earliest lies). Make a good impression?)

29. (3) Personality Type • In romantic relations: • (a) attachment style (Bowlby): avoidant (lack of trust, keep people at distance)…..these folks lie to keep others at a distance. Versus • anxious attachments: lack of self-esteem. These people lie to look good as they feel bad.

30. (b) Psychopathy • The types have no empathy or sympathy for others. They regard others as pieces of themselves, and objects of manipulation—like their own limbs. These are big time liars to everyone they might wish to manipulate. Superficially charming, they get away with it for a while…

31. (c) Extraverts and introverts • Outward/sociable vs. reserved. • Which are the bigger liars?

32. (d) Self-consciousness: • These are very concerned with impression they make, so how do they behave with respect to deception? In this connection, one speaks also of social anxiety: they lack self confidence, so they tell tales.

33. Are there non-verbal, behavioral lie signals? Are we all on same page? What are these? (This slide through #47 is based on Vrij (2008) Chapter 3)

34. We wish we had a Pinocchio's nose indicator

35. DiPaolo’s group emphasizes 3 theoretical perspectives: • During deception, 3 phenomena occur that may yield “tells”: • 1) emotional reactions: guilt, fear----and delight. (delight?) • Guilt  low eye contact • Fear  stuttering, blinks, squeals. • Delight (of duper) excitement, inappropriate laughter. (Ekman)

36. What else does liar experience? • 2) mental (task) demand, also called cognitive load. Liars will also tend to look away, so as to concentrate on made up details. Except when they monitor you to see if you believe. • 3) Attempted self control of behavior to avoid tells. Not easy. Voices break, facial expressions occur: Ekman’s micro-expressions.

37. Remember: These are theories of what should happen. Moreover…

38. …these effects are affected by certain other factors, e.g., • GUILT—The degree of guilt felt depends on personality. Consider Psychopathy. & Consider Stakes. & Consider sense of righteousness or duty felt by CIA agent. • FEAR– Experienced liars of whatever breed have less fear. • EXCITEMENT– helped by type of audience. Also, if it’s a big conquest, or else, no.

39. More… • COGNITIVE LOAD--- also depends on verbal skill-intelligence and experience. (Vrij is wrong about Psychopaths feeling less load.) Degree of rehearsal also makes a difference (practice makes perfect!). Liars lack the transparency illusion(Vrij,p.40). So more monitoring of other chameleon effect (Vrij, p. 48). • SELF CONTROL depends on Psychopathy.

40. Vrij is a pain, but best we have..(E.g.Box 3.1 p. 47)…. • …and his best statement is the last sentence on p. 49 “ The complex relationship between non-verbal communication and deception makes it unlikely that clear, diagnostic, non-verbal cues to deception exist.” • The implications of this statement regarding development of non-verbal “tells” is what?! (Life is not Poker.)

41. Nevertheless… here are:Research Methods for studying behavioral non-verbal signs of lying:

42. Field Studies.(Define.) • We want to compare liars vs. truth-tellers, but… Difficulties: 1)Getting videos: (Are cameras always running?) 2) Establishing “Ground Truth.” 3) Controls: only possible in lab to have unconfounded conditions—so not many field studies re: nonverbal cues are out there…

43. What’s a Confound ? • Consider our deception feedback study: • Specific vs. Non-specific feedback? Or vs. No feedback.

44. OK, how about lab studies? • Pluses:Ground truth easy to get by design. Likewise, un-confounded control conditions. • Minuses: Lies are instructed. So what happens to guilt? fear? choice? What happens regarding stakes? You can offer money (IRB:coercive), but not punishment (as in real life). • DECEPTION IS HARD TO STUDY!

45. Bottom Line: • Vrij’s Appendix 3.1(p. 90) makes very clear that there is NO reliable non-verbal sign of deception. There may be trends and even significant group effects (explain), which support theoretical views noted above….. **But in D of D, the key statistic is INDIVIDUAL HIT RATE (as UTILIZED in d’ or AUC from SDT..see Powerpoint # 5).

46. Individual Hit Rates… • … depend on where you draw the line to classify one individual, which is where you set criterion. *It is also necessary to evaluate a lie detection procedure. For that, Signal Detection Theory (SDT) comes in handy..this was a method developed for diagnosis in WWII, and thereafter. Birds? vs. Soviet Rockets?

47. Meaning…. • …You first look at an individual’s data • In order to decide on one person’s guilt or innocence….

48. Signal Detection Theory.

49. Scientists, doctors must make a decision based on information.. • …as well as costs of decision: A doctor looks at an x-ray. Usually, it will NOT be definitive unless the patient is too far gone or clearly healthy. The problem: the in-between. COSTS: Is he afraid to miss the tumor? So always do biopsy. Or is he more concerned with being too jumpy and thus recommending biopsies all the time?

50. Same with a professional Lie Catcher: • Is the suspect a liar or a truth-teller? • He doesn’t get an x-ray, but maybe an fMRI image from a suspect? These not so clear either. His cost is a false accusation if he is too careful vs. letting a felon get away if he is not careful enough.