How to Tell If Someone Is Lying
If you think you can spot a liar a mile away, think again. In just a 10-minute conversation, most of us tell three lies, as well as a range of minor omissions, exaggerations and bluffs. But the average listener only spots a fib 54 percent of the time. When it comes to law enforcement, that may soon change.
The Times of London reports that British researchers from the University of Southampton have figured out how to spot a liar, and the test is so accurate it could someday replace the traditional polygraph.
In this study, volunteers were given a special timed computer test and instructed to type answers as fast as they could to various questions. Sometimes they told the truth. Other times they told lies. When the researchers, led by psychologist Aiden Gregg, analyzed their responses, they found that it took about 30 percent longer to type a lie, compared with the truth.
The test is called Tara, short for antagonistic response alethiometer, and the Times reports that it took the volunteers 1.2 seconds to speak the truth, but 1.8 seconds to tell a lie. Fully 85 percent of the time, the volunteer liars were slower when they prevaricated.
Tara could soon replace more traditional lie detector methods, which are no longer as effective as they once were since criminals have figured them out. "Habitual liars heard that people look away when telling lies, so they stare directly into your eyes," Gregg says. "However, we are not getting any smarter at detecting lies, and that could have serious consequences." So much for counting on shifty eyes to give the crook away.
A polygraph is not a lie detector as is often thought. Instead, it detects physiological expressions that can be associated with lying, such as a racing heart or sweaty hands. But determining whether someone is telling the truth or a lie is rather subjective so many innocent people are falsely implicated with polygraphs.
The Times reports that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is considering using Tara
Thank you London Times for this story.
www.timesonline.co.uk
No comments:
Post a Comment