The Art & Science

of Lie Detection
Laura Freberg, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
laura@laurafreberg.com

Todays Agenda
What is a lie?
Why do people lie?
When are they easy or hard to catch?
How do people telegraph their truthfulness?
What are the emerging technologies in lie detection?
A quick video of body language during a lie

What Is a Lie?
According to the American Heritage Dictionary, a lie is:
1. A false statement deliberately presented as being true;
a falsehood.
2. Something meant to deceive or give a wrong
impression.
Note the emphasis on the persons intent.

Types of Lies
Protective lies: Telling children that the stork
brought them because you dont think theyre old
enough to talk about sex, or reassuring your relative
that he/she is not really terminally ill
White lies: Lies that do no harm, and may do good,
such as complimenting your hostess meal even if
you didnt enjoy it much (social tact)
Lying by omission: Failing to reveal ones belief in
order to deceive.
Bluffing: Usually considered more of a tactic than a
lie, as it occurs in the well-understood context of a
game.

More Types of Lies.

Jest: When we use sarcasm or tell tall tales, we
assume others understand we are deliberately not
telling the truth.
Careful Speaking: Avoiding the telling of an outright
lie with carefully chosen words; a half-answer that is
accurate but does not fully answer a question.

The Morality of Lying

Many philosophers (e.g. Kant, Thomas Aquinas)
prohibited ALL lying, even if it meant death.

Lying is a misuse of the human faculty of

speech.
Lying undermines trust, which is essential to
the community.
Lying undermines others; Lying makes a
decision for the other person, rather than
letting him/her decide based on facts.
Others defend lying, such as telling a Nazi soldier
that one has no Jewish children in the house.

Why Do We Lie?
We are not alone. Deception is common in the animal
kingdom. All animals (including us) deceive others
to obtain benefits or avoid costs.

Lying in Animals
Koko, the female gorilla who uses American Sign
Language, signed cat did it, when confronted with
a sink she had damaged during a tantrum. It is not
clear whether or not Koko was making a joke or
lying.
Wolves often bluff during ritual fighting that
maintains the hierarchy within the pack.

The Development of Lying

The ability is universal.
Children demonstrate Theory of Mind at about the
age of 4 years. Simultaneously, they are capable of
lying effectively.
The ability to lie precedes a moral understanding
about the importance of honesty. Consequently,
children lie frequently until they learn that this
results in negative consequences.
Adults probably lie as frequently as children, but
about different things.

Even Robots Will

Learn to Deceive

Laurent Kellers robots react to the

environment with a computerized genome.
Bots that find food mate with other
successful bots and send their genome
into the next generation. Bots can turn
blue lights on and off.
Bots evolved the ability to
communicate with lights. Some flashed
their lights near food, while others flashed
their lights near poison.
Bots gave correct information to relatives, but flashed their
lights far away from food when surrounded by strangers.

Catching a Liar
Liars will look different ONLY when the following two
conditions are fully met:
1. The person is deliberately and knowingly telling a
lie.
2. The person thinks lying is wrong.

Reconstructive Memory

When we retrieve information from memory to use it, the data are at
risk for change. The person retrieving changed, inaccurate information
will believe that he/she is telling the truth.
Elizabeth Loftus and Eyewitness Testimony

Loftus (1975)
N=150
Video of an automobile accident
IV
How fast was the white sports car going when it
passed the barn while traveling along the country
road?
How fast was the white sports car going while
traveling along the country road?
DV measured one week later
Did you see a barn?

Loftus Results

When People Dont Care.

People who do not believe that lying is wrong will
show few, if any, detectable signs of arousal.
Psychopaths, criminal or not, are incapable of
empathy or guilt. Therefore, they do not perceive
that harming others is a problem, and will be
effective liars.

Signs That a Person Is Lying

Detecting lies in people you know is FAR easier than
detecting lies in a stranger. When dealing with
strangers, use baseline questions that nobody
would lie about to establish normal behavior.
Assuming a person is deliberately lying AND
recognizes lying as negative, you may observe
some/all of the following:
1. Reduced articulation
2. Facial and body responses that do not match
3. Facial and body responses that pass quickly are are
replaced by more conscious responses

More Signs of Lying

4.
5.
6.

Reduced upper body movement

Increased lower body movement
Nervous smiling or laughter that is inappropriate
given the topic under discussion (smiling is a
submissive signalIm okay, dont hurt me)
7. Eye contact (works in the generic American culture,
but few others)
8. Timing: Emotions are spontaneous, instantaneous
reactions to our environment. Any delay in reaction
should be suspect.

Traditional Lie Detector Tests

Polygraph tests are reliable about 65% of the time,
even when conducted by experts. Consequently,
they are not admissible in court.

Other Tech Efforts

Truth serum
Brain fingerprinting
fMRI

Brain activity during the processing of real memories

and imagined events is identical.
fMRI requires cooperation (no moving)
Cannot detect lies by omission
CAN detect if a person is thinking about a place
versus a face
CAN detect extra brain activity required by lying

Other Challenges for fMRI

Small number of participants
Generally typical, law-abiding participants without
psychopathology
Can we generalize from the laboratory (no risk) to
the courtroom (huge risk)?

Lying

Truth

Ethics of New Technologies

Technology generally moves much faster than
corresponding discussions of ethics.
What if we can read the brain? How should that be
used? What protections should we have for
participants?

Thank you! Any Questions?

Feel free to email me
laura@laurafreberg.com
Or
visit me on the web at:
http://www.laurafreberg.com