NCJ Number
207564
Journal
Legal and Criminological Psychology Volume: 9 Issue: 2 Dated: September 2004 Pages: 159-181
Date Published
September 2004
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This article reviews the research literature regarding lie detection and makes recommendations for improving the detection of deceit.
Abstract
While professional lie catchers, such as police officers, tend to regard themselves as better lie detectors than laypersons, previous research has indicated otherwise. The first part of the article reviews the empirical research literature regarding the ability of professional lie catchers to detect deception. Overall, this research literature shows that police officers and other professional lie catchers perform only slightly better than laypersons, yet they have more confidence in their ability to detect deception. The author asserts that there are many reasons why it is difficult to detect deception; the second part of the article enumerates these reasons, which include the failure to take individual and situational differences into account. The author also asserts that several interviewing techniques promoted in police manuals actually hamper the detection of deceit, such as the suggestion that officers should disclose facts of the case to the suspect. In the last part of the article, the author offers recommendations for the improvement of lie detection skills, including the suggestion to eliminate erroneous beliefs about how liars respond and to attend to both verbal and non-verbal cues together. Future research should focus on developing interviewing techniques designed to detect deception. References