DETECTING DECEIT THROUGH THE BODY There was an experiment done some time back where nurses were

asked to watch nice or gory scenes on a screen, keep calm, and describe (whether it was nice or gory) a nice scene. The nurses were filmed, and their films were shown to a large range of professionals. The results came back that when the viewer saw just the face of the nurse, and heard the words; the untrained lie detector had a very low chance correctly picking deception. On the other hand, the same untrained lie detectors became much more accurate (around 50% - 65%) when they were able to see the body language of the nurses. This tells me that no matter how good someone is at reading faces, being able to see the body will increase your chances of detection. With the Body, the non verbal leakage asks like a gestural "slip-of-the-tongue". There are three major gestural slips that come from the body. 1) Emblems: Emblems have very precise meaning, known to everyone within their culture group. E.g. shrug (or small rotation of the hands); "I don't know", "I'm helpless", "What does it matter?" Emblems can be used in place of a word, or when words can't be used. I'll list a couple that you'll already know below. Emblems are done mostly on purpose, however can act very much like a slip in body movement. When someone is trying to conceal information / how they feel, they will often only perform a fragment of the emblem, not the entire action. They are also often out of the "usual presentation position" most are performed in front of a person, waist to neck height. Usually leakage emblemism is not performed in this area. Head nod: yes Head shake: no Fist clench: anger

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Come here beckon, wave hello / goodbye, finger-on-finger shame on you, hand-to-ear louder request, A-ok, f-you finger gestures (these are actually very comment if you look for them, from someone choosing to use their middle finger to push their glasses back up their nose to resting their chin on their two fingers in the direction of someone / something) Not all liars will make an emblematic slip, however when a slip does occur they are quite reliable as a message that the person does not want to reveal. 2) Illustrators: These are often confused with emblems; however this works in an opposite way: while emblematic slips may increase, illustrators will usually decrease with deception. They are called illustrators as they illustrate speech as it is spoken. It is usually the hands that illustrate speech, although brow and upper eyelid movement, as well as the entire upper body can also work. Illustrators are often required for successful public speaking, although keep in mind certain culture groups may illustrate a lot, whereas others do so very little. The clue to deceit comes from noting a decrease in the number of illustrators shown they as doing so less than usual (this is where ensuring that you have a benchmark / base line idea as to what the person's usual behaviour is like comes in). Illustrators are used to explain ideas that are difficult to put into words, or when a person can't find a word, even giving directions. They increase with involvement with what is being said, in a highly emotionally aroused state (excited, distressed, agitated...). One of the best examples of a common illustrator is to try describing "how big the fish was" without using your hands to "show" the size. What causes a lack of illustrators? a) lack of emotional investment in what is being said. Uninvolved, bored, disinterested... b) when a person is having trouble deciding exactly what to say. If someone is weighing each word carefully, considering what is said before it is said, there is not much illustrating (eg an unrehearsed sales pitch). CAREFUL: Caution in speech does not always have to do with deceit. Always benchmark behaviour. EMBLEMS can replace words ILLUSTRATORS can not replace words

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3) Manipulators: These include all those movements in which one part of the body grooms, massages, rubs, holds, pinches, picks, scratches or otherwise manipulates another body part. Typically the hand is the manipulator. Common recipients are the hair, ears, nose, or crotch. Cal also include tongue against cheeks, or teeth slightly biting lips, leg against leg, and can also include props, such as a match, pencil, paper clip - or of course - a cigarette. Picking manipulators are common with people who feel shame. Manipulators increase with discomfort - however can occasionally increase when people are very relaxed (ie letting their hair down). Manipulators can be quite unreliable by themselves as signs of deceit: a) People vary enormously in how many manipulators and what kinds of manipulators they usually show. b) The Othello error (showing signs of fear at NOT being believed) also interferes with the interpretation of manipulators as a deception clue, since manipulators increase when people are uncomfortable about anything. c) Everyone believes that showing many manipulators betrays deceit, and so a motivated liar will try to squelch them.

SDL Behavioural Science Consultancy - Non-Verbal Behaviour Analysts Motives for Lying Notes from Dr. Paul Ekmans Telling Lies www.MicroExpressions.co.nz