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Detecting

DeceptionBy JOE NAVARRO, M.A.,and JOHN R. SCHAFER, M.A.

The young mother leaned

back and cleared her throat.Her eyes teared and her

voice quivered as she explainedhow her baby disappeared. Herclasped hands trembled slightly andher feet pointed toward the door.Her demeanor appeared too sub

dued. Reluctant to call the mother aliar, the investigator asked her if shehad a reason to lie. She answered, Inever lie. My mother taught me always to tell the truth. The investigator had seen and heard enoughhe asked the woman to take a

polygraph examination. During the postpolygraph interview, thewoman confessed that she hadsuffocated her baby. Both her ver

bal and nonverbal behaviors had re

vealed the gruesome truth.From heated knife bladesacross the tongue to electric prods,

people have sought ways through-out history to test the truthfulness ofothers. Fortunately, researchers incriminology and psychology haveidentified verbal and nonverbal behaviors that detect deception in amore humane manner. Nonetheless,detecting deception remains a difficult task. In fact, multiple studieshave found that lie detection, like

a coin toss, represents a 50/50 proposition, even for experiencedinvestigators.1 Although detectingdeception remains difficult, investigators increase the odds for success

by learning a few basic nonverbaland verbal cues indicative of lying.

The FundamentalsLying requires the deceiver to

keep facts straight, make the storybelievable, and withstand scrutiny.When individuals tell the truth, they

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often make every effort to ensurethat other people understand. Incontrast, liars attempt to manage

others perceptions.2 Consequently,people unwittingly signal deceptionvia nonverbal and verbal cues.3 Unfortunately, no particular nonverbalor verbal cue evinces deception.4

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Investigators abilities to detectdeceptive behavior depends largelyon their ability to observe, catalogue, and differentiate human be

havior. They must identify clustersof behavior, which cumulatively reinforce deceptive behaviors uniqueto the person interviewed.5 Investigators also should learn to formulate questions to facilitate behavioral observations. The moreobservations investigators make,the greater the probability of detecting deception. For the most part,family members and close friendsdisplay patterns of genuine open

ness. For inexperienced investigators, these behavioral patterns mayserve as a comparative reference forcontrast with deceptive behaviors.

The Interview Setting

The ideal setting for an inter-view places the interviewee in a

position where no obstacles, such

as tables or desks, block theinterviewers full view of thesubjects body. A large portion ofnonverbal behaviors emanates from

the lower body, not just from thehands and face. Feet that fidget or

point to the door communicate dis-comfort.6 If subjects sit behind adesk or table, officers should en-courage them to relocate. Deceiversoften use soda cans, computerscreens, and other objects, bothlarge and small, to form a barrier

between themselves and investiga-tors.7 Objects used in this mannercreate distance, separation, and par

tial concealmentbehaviors consistent with dishonesty.

The Eyes

Many investigators rely tooheavily on eye contact. Researchindicates that people, especiallyfrequent liars, actually increaseeye contact because they learned

Special Agent John R. Schafer isassigned to the FBIs Lancaster,California, resident office and alsoserves as a member of the FBIsNational Security DivisionsBehavioral Analysis Program.

Special Agent Navarro serves inthe FBIs Tampa, Florida, officeand also serves as a member ofthe FBIs National SecurityDivisions Behavioral AnalysisProgram.

that investigators often gaugeveracity by strong eye contact.8

Nevertheless, eye aversion duringdifficult questions, as opposed

to benign questions, can depictdistress.

Eyes do not just see, they communicate when the brain conductsinternal dialog, recalls past events,crafts answers, or processes information. Eyes also serve as a blocking mechanism, much the same wayas folded hands across the chest orturning away in disagreement.When people hear or see somethingthey disagree with or do not fully

support, their eyelids tend to closelonger than a normal blink. This automatic response occurs so quicklythat most extended eye closures gounnoticed. By cataloging a persons

baseline eye responses duringnonstressful conversation, investigators can compare the eye responses with those during criticalquestions.

Hand or finger movement to theeyes usually follows a prolongedeye closure, further blocking out

auditory or visual stimuli. Addition-ally, individuals who struggle withan idea or concept often blink theireyes rapidly. Rapid blinking oreyelid flutter signals a sensitivetopic.9 Officers carefully should observe the speakers eyes, which canalert to the possibility of deception.

Head and Body Movements

Head movements should comport with verbal denials or affirmations. For example, an inconsistenthead movement occurs whenindividuals say, I did not do itwhile their head subtly nods affirmatively. Investigators often miss

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inconsistencies between the spokenword and nonverbal behavior.10

When people feel comfortable,they tend to mirror the head move

ments of the person with whomthey converse. An unwillingness tomirror the investigators headmovements or other gestures couldindicate discomfort, reluctance tocooperate, or, possibly, deceit.11

Truthful people tend to leanforward as they converse; liars tendto move away.12 Therefore, ifspeakers lean backward when telling their version of events, the statement likely involves some decep

tion or reluctance to provideinformation.

Mouth and Breathing

People who attempt to concealinformation often breathe fastertaking a series of short breaths followed by one long deep breath.13

This irregular breathing pattern cantip investigators to speakers in-creased anxiety levels. Addition-ally, stress often causes a drymouth, resulting in repeated clear

ing of the throat, cracking of thevoice, or jumping of the Adamsapple (laryngeal cartilages).14 Like-wise, a tense mouth with pursed lipsmay represent extreme distress andsignify that speakers literally re-strain themselves emotionally, ver

bally, and physically.

Hands and Arms

Confident people usuallyspread out in an area. Less secure

people tend to occupy less space,fold their arms, and interlock theirlegs.15 Similarly, a person whoselips, hands, or fingers tremble orwho hides their hands may exhibit

low confidence, although thesecharacteristics do not guaranteedeception.

A liar rarely points a finger or

emphasizes with hand gestures.16Finger pointing or hand movementsexude confidencequalities liarsusually lack. The finger-pointingcue usually does not apply to actorsor politicians because they trainthemselves to appear confident during public appearances. Also, liarsrarely display steeplingfingertipstouching each other forming a triangle with both hands, which, sym

bolically, represents assurance of

thought or position.

17

The moreobservationsinvestigators make,

the greater theprobability of

detecting deception.

Liars often slouch in chairsfeigning comfort. Liars mayevenyawn repeatedly reinforcing the ap

pearance of relaxation, even boredom. In addition, yawning duringstressful situations or spreading outon a couch or chair when circumstances call for tension and discomfort portends deception.18

Liars often keep their handsmotionless and draw their armsclose to their bodies into a positionas if flash frozen. In many cases,

speakers knuckles turn white asthey clutch the armrest.

Verbal Cues

Liars prefer concealing thetruth rather than fabricating an entirely fictitious story.19 With concealment, the liar only needs toavoid revealing untrue informa-tion.20 In other words, the liar conveys the truth up to the event hewants to hide. At this point, the liaruses a text bridge to gloss over theconcealed activity.21 After crossingthis sensitive area, the liar againrelays the truth. The use of text

bridges alerts the investigator toa topic that may require closerexamination.

Text bridges enable the speakerto fast forward through time connecting salient events without discussing the included activities. Forexample, if a man says, After Itook a shower, I ate breakfast. Thelistener assumes that the man disrobed, turned on the water, got intothe shower, washed his body withsoap, rinsed the soap off his body,

shampooed his hair, rinsed his hair,turned off the water, got out of theshower, and dried himself with atowel. Someone reluctant to tell thetruth often uses this same techniqueto gloss over sensitive topics. Forexample, a person reports the following: I left the house to go towork, and when I returned home, Ifound my wife lying in a pool of

blood. The text bridge when I re-turned home... should alert investigators to missing information. Investigators should examine, indetail, the mans activities from thetime he left the house until the timehe returned. The interview should

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not proceed until the speaker adequately explains his activities.Some commonly used text bridgesinclude I dont remember..., the

next thing I knew..., later on...,shortly thereafter..., after-wards..., after that..., while...,even though..., when...,then..., besides..., consequently..., finally..., how-ever..., and before....

Stalling tactics, such as askingthe investigator to repeat the question, provides additional time fordeceivers to think up an appropriateanswer. Liars typically ask investi

gators to repeat questions withoutrealizing that honest conversationsdo not require the restatement ofquestions.22 Other stalling phrasesinclude It depends on what youmean by that, Where did you hearthat? Wheres this informationcoming from? Could you be morespecific? or How dare you ask mesomething like that.23 The phrasesWell, its not so simple as yes orno, or Thats an excellent question, also provides speakers with

additional time.Research shows that guilty

people often avoid using contrac-tions.24 Instead of saying, It wasntme, liars will say, It was not me,to ensure the listener clearly hearsthe denial. Additionally, liarseuphemize to avoid reality.25 Like-wise, responses such as, I wouldnever do that, Lying is belowme, I have never lied, or Iwould never lie, or, I would neverdo such a thing should alert investigators to the possibility of deception. Other statements such as: to

be perfectly frank..., to be honest..., to be perfectly truthful...,

or I was always taught to tell thetruth, often intend to deceive.

Making a positive statementnegative provides the liar with the

quickest, easiest answer to an accusation. For example, the investigator asks, Did you steal themoney? The person responds,No, I did not steal the money. Theguilty person responds quickly toavoid the impression of a delayedanswer.26 A variation of this technique occurs when a person answers yes or no immediately,

but the explanation comes moreslowly because the liar needs time

to construct an answer.

27

...people havesought waysthroughout history

to test thetruthfulness of

others.

Deceptive people rarely includenegative details in their explanationof events, unless, of course,thestory concerns delayed or canceledplans.28 Truthful people referencethe negative as well as the positiveevents in their stories.

Silence makes many people un-comfortable.29 Liars usually continue speaking until they confirmthat the listener accepts their version as the truth. If investigatorsstare patiently in silence unconvinced, the deceitful person likelywill reveal information, not in

response to questions but rather tofill the silence.

Conclusion

Investigators who learn androutinely employ basic nonverbaland verbal skills during interviewsgain valuable insights into the veracity of the person interviewed;however, if unpracticed, these skillsdeteriorate over time. The moreskilled behavioral observations investigators make, the more accurately they can form an opinion as tothe truthfulness of the speaker.However, no matter how skilled theinvestigator, the fact remains thatno particular nonverbal or verbal

behavior, in and of itself, indicatesdeception.

Investigators cannot preventpeople from lying but, at least, theycan observe and catalog behaviorsthat indicate, but do not necessarilyconclude, deception. The only certain method of discerning the truthrelies on the corroboration of theknown facts independent of the in-formation provided by the person

interviewed.30

Endnotes1 Paul Eckman, Telling Lies: Clues to

Deceit in the Marketplace, Politics, and

Marriage (New York: W. W. Horton and Co.,1985), 287 citing M. O. Sullivan, P. Eckman,and W. V. Friesen,Journal of NonverbalBehavior12 (1988): 203-15.

2 David J. Lieberman,Never Be Lied toAgain (New York: St. Martin Press, 1988), 41.

3 Sigmund Freud,Fragments of an Analysisof a Case of Hysteria-Collected Papers V. 3

(New York: Basic Books, 1905), 94.4 Supra note 1, 80.5 Supra note 1, 80.6 David Lewis, The Secret Language of

Success: Using Body Language to Get What

You Want(New York: Galhad Books, 1955),221.

7 Ibid., 169

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8 R. E. Exline, J. Thibaut, C. B. Hickey, andP. Gumpert, Visual Interaction in Relation toMachiavellianism and an Unethical Act, citingR. Christie and F. L. Geis, eds., Studies inMachiavellianism, (New York, NY: Academic

Press, 1970), 53-75.9 David G. Givens, The Nonverbal

Dictionary of Gestures, Signs, and Body

Language Cues (Spokane, WA, Center forNonverbal Studies, 2000), available fromhttp://members.aol.com/nonverbal2; accessedNovember 17, 2000.

10 Supra note 1, 289.11 Gordon R. Wainwright, Teach Yourself

Body Language (London: Hodder Headline,1985), 37.

12 Supra note 2, 23.13 Supra note 2, 54.14 Supra note 2, 54 and note 9.15 Supra note 2, 14.16 Supra note 2, 24.

17 Supra note 2, 198.18 Bella M. DePaulo, Nonverbal Behavior

and Self-preservation, Psychological Bulletin111, no. 2 (1992): 214.

19 Supra note 1, 29.20 Supra note 1, 20.21 The term text bridges was coined by the

authors; however, the concept of missinginformation was developed by Avinoam Sapir,The L.S.I. Advanced Workshop on Scientific

Content Analysis (SCAN), (Phoenix, AZ,Laboratory for Scientific Interrogation, 1992)ii.

22 Supra note 2, 49.23 Supra note 2, 46.

24 Supra note 2, 30.25 Supra note 2, 28.26 Supra note 2, 28.27 Supra note 2, 35.28 Supra note 2, 43.29 Supra note 2, 31.30 J. Reid Meloy, The Psychology of

Wickedness: Psychopathy and Sadism,Psychiatric Annals 27:9 (September 1997):630-33.

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