Thursday, October 17, 2013

Volume 98; Number 17

www.bladepublishing.net staff@bladepublishing.net

A community newspaper serving Browerville, MN and surrounding areas. USPS 067-560

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How can you tell if someones lying to you? Part two

Part two of two: By Rin Porter RESEARCH ON DETECTING DECEPTION Lots of articles about research on deception are available, and they seem to reach similar conclusions: no matter what kind of research you do, whether the subjects you study are trained or untrained, the chances of accurately picking out who is lying and who is telling the truth are no better than chance. In other words, if you flipped a coin and called heads its truth, and tails its a lie, your accuracy would be about the same as a trained professional in the Department of Homeland Security. Dr. Judee Burgoon, Professor of Communication, Professor of Family Studies and Human Development, and Director of Human Communication Research at the University of Arizona, noted in 2004 that humans have very poor ability to detect deception. Her research team developed a set of computerized tools to detect deception in text messages. The set of tools was able to differentiate between an individuals telling the truth and trying to deceive between 61% and 91% of the time but that was written communication, not oral communication. Burgoon also studied a form of video analysis based on motions made by an individuals hands and face. The computerized analysis can predict which individuals are telling the truth and which are trying to deceive. She and her team were not able to find a method of teaching humans to detect deception or hostile intent, but we think we can develop automated tools to aug-

Historical Society holds Civil War event

On Saturday, Oct. 12, about 50 people came to the Browerville Community Center for Todd County History Day, an event put on by the Todd County Historical Society and the Great River Regional Library. There they examined Civil War displays contributed by Burtrum, Bertha, Eagle Bend, Staples, and Todd County Historical Societies about the Civil War experience in their towns and the county at large. After enjoying a meal prepared by members of the Todd County Historical Society, the group heard a fascinating presentation by Colonel Lowell Kruse, Minnesota National Guard, who is a Civil War reenactor. Col. Kruse is stationed at Camp Ripley, where he is Director of Logistics for the Minnesota National Guard. Col. Kruse explained the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863,where the First Minnesota Regiment played a pivotal role in the Union victory. He demonstrated and explained the clothing and gear of a typical Union soldier, and told about his experience in the reenactment of the Battle of Gettysburg held last summer at the 150th anniversary of the battle, near the battlefield in Pennsylvania. Over 10,000 reenactors participated.

Wadena County Investigator Amy Ament (photo from Inforum.com website owned by Fargo Forum) ment human judgment that can greatly increase detections accuracy by using them. (Detecting Deception: Research to Secure the Homeland, COSSA, 2004. Retrieved on 9/12/13 at www.cossa.org Dr. John Grohol published a brief review of deception research in 1999. His sources included Professor Patricia Wallace of the University of Maryland, whose book Psychology of the Internet stated, Psychological research on deception shows that most of us are poor judges of truthfulness, and this applies even to professionals such as police and customs inspectors whose jobs are supposed to include some expertise at lie detection. (Detecting Deception: A quick review of the research, retrieved 9.12.13 at www.psychcentral.com An article on the website of the Continued on page 12.

BHS Honor Society sponsors local blood drive

Left: Browerville Public Schools hosted an American Red Cross Blood Drive in the elementary gym on Thursday, October 10. The Browerville National Honor Society members volunteered to help with the blood drive by calling donors and scheduling appointments, hanging fliers, registering and greeting donors at the site. Members assisting included: Jackson Polak, Trent Johnson, Benton Johnson, Emily Lisson, Emily Busch, Jake Iten, Cody Hansmeyer, and Abigail Irsfeld. NHS advisor, Jody Hagenson, also helped with the blood drive. Chairing the drive was BHS Principal, Patrick Sutlief. The blood drive collected 47 units, down from last years 53 units. BHS and the American Red Cross would like to thank all who donated blood.

WEEKLY WEATHER REPORT

Tue. Oct. 15
Rain

Wed. Oct. 16
Sunny

Thur. Oct. 17 Mostly Cloudy 49/33

Fri. Oct. 18 Partly Cloudy 46/31

Sat. Oct. 19
Mostly Cloudy

Sun. Oct. 20 Partly Cloudy 45/32

45/35

53/38

43/30