Lies about Lie Detection
So for those of you who don’t know, QI is one of my favourite shows, so in that vein, here are some well known ‘facts’ about lie detection…
- You can tell if someone is lying, as they won’t look you in the eye. Um… no… not true… When we access memory, our eyes move in certain predictable directions (known as ‘eye accessing cues’). Generally people will display a consistent repeating pattern of moves when telling the truth about a topic. As they start to lie, they access information differently and the eye pattern changes.
- People blush when they tell lies. Well, here’s the thing : people flush when they are hot, embarrassed, lying, excited… So the only time you can get a clue from blushing is when (a) they haven’t been blushing up until now and (b) there is no other reason for the blush…
- Liars use ‘closed’ body language, so you can tell someone is lying if they fold their arms and cross their legs. First : what is ‘closed’ body language? I cross my legs all the time (yes I know it’s bad for my back) – that’s not ‘closed’, that’s just me! I could say the same about friends who fold their arms. Second : what matters is not my body language, but changes to it. If I start with crossed legs and unfolded arms, look for a change.
The point for all three of these is that you should be looking for changes that are unexplained by external circumstances. A change in the outside reflects a change on the inside, so what has caused that? Was it the question you just asked? Was it right on target? Were they economical with the truth? Learn to calibrate their ‘normal’ behaviour and you can start to notice the changes!