Lie to Me--Detecting Dishonesty

Lie detection is what many people think of when it comes to facial reactions and nonverbal behavior. Unfortunately there are many things to learn and perfect before you can accurately accuse someone of lying, and hopefully you've gained some of those skills from this blog.

This will be a finale of sorts, tying up all the lessons in one neat package. Without further ado, let's get right to it.

Is lie detection really possible?

The short answer is "yes," but there are so many complications and qualifiers that even the most seasoned of spy-catchers can honestly admit to "getting it right" only a little over half of the time. Detecting a lie is as complex as it is challenging, much more complex than my rather simple analysis of Clinton's speech. As I've stated many times before, it's not just about the one tell you see but the combination of many in succession--in response to something that just happened. You have to ask the right questions and observe the right response before you can even begin to accurately doubt a person's honesty.

I'm not looking for a philosophical discussion. Just give me pointers.

Okay.

• Start at the feet. Are they pointing anywhere other than at you? If the feet are pointing towards a door or exit, they're in a hurry to leave you or would rather be somewhere else.
• Look at their arms and torso. Did they just cover up their stomach area in response to what you just said? If a person buttons up their jacket as a reaction, it means they have a reason to not be "open" or fully upfront. Did the person grab an object to create a barrier between you? A physical barrier is a strong "flight" maneuver and indicates relevant secrecy.
• Assess their posture. Posture is great to determine level of confidence. Are they supposed to be feeling a little "down"? Does the posture reflect that? Look for inconsistencies here.

 Hopefully you've done all of this quickly enough to spend some time looking at the face.

• The easiest thing to observe is the lip-purse--the person exerts effort into keeping the mouth closed. When you see the lips slowly disappear into the mouth, you know the person is hiding something. A bad liar can give himself away if he follows up the lip-purse with a strong swallow.
• Does the person have a reason to be angry? Look for the nostril-flair and a small set of wrinkles at the very top of the nose. You can practice this face in the mirror to better understand how the "anger face" looks. 
• When the person makes a statement, look for the iconic eyebrow-raise. This indicates a surprise to one's own words (I've mentioned this before as well). This means what they say doesn't match what they think or feel. This means, in the words of Tim Roth, "he's lying."
• Remember pacifying behaviors? An unpracticed liar can't help but to touch his face in an attempt to subconsciously soothe himself. Look for any type of rubbing or pinching that follows a statement.

This is by no means an exhaustive list. This list will not make you an expert lie detector overnight. If you come face-to-face with a sociopath serial killer, you most likely won't be able to tell if he is being dishonest at all. This stuff is hard, and it should be. Emotions are complicated and it takes loads of practice to decipher them correctly. Hopefully you can at least learn to tell if your friend is lying about stealing your bike, if your roommate is lying about eating the last chocolate bar, or if your dad is lying about accidentally running over your pet rat.

Most importantly, follow your gut. You'd be surprised at how often your instincts are right.


Navarro, J. (2008). What Every BODY Is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Speed-Reading People. New York: Harper Collins.

Your Words Can Lie, but Your Face Can't--Micro-Expressions

I've referenced "Lie to Me" time and time again, and this entry will talk about some of the details of Dr. Paul Ekman's study on micro-expressions. Yes, the science behind the show is largely accurate, albeit slightly exaggerated (for the sake of entertainment, of course).

In short, when you look for micro-expressions you look for the split-second reaction of all the tiny muscle movements in the face. Looking for these signals will primarily give you honest information of a person who is deliberately trying to hide their emotions--acting "cool."

As with reading all nonverbal cues, being able to identify just one signal doesn't automatically mean your assumptions are correct. Be very careful and sure before you accuse someone of dishonesty!

The Basics

Looking at the eyes:

• Where are they looking? A fixed gaze generally indicates emotions that deal with interpersonal reactions, including positive feelings like happiness and negative feelings like anger, contempt, and guilt. Emotions like surprise and sadness don't usually fix the eye on any particular subject.
• How do the ocular muscles look? If the eyes seem to be closing while fixed on the subject, it indicates a strong negative emotion like disgust--the brain doesn't like what it sees so it attempts to shut the image out. Eyes widening can indicate a pleasurable reaction, such as a "happy surprise" or excitement.
• Deciphering a real smile. A smile is easy to fake in the professional world. It's a sign of openness and marginal respect. How can you tell the fake smiles from the real? Look for crows feet, or a small cluster of wrinkles that happen on the side of your eyes when you give an honest smile (easily observable when you say or hear a hilarious joke). Be careful with this one, however, because this little expression is easy to fake once you're aware!

 Looking at the mouth and nose:

• As negative and aggressive emotions get stronger (such as anger), you can observe that the mouth appears smaller and smaller. Lips get pursed and narrowed before they make the "frown," and you'll see less of their lips as the person get angrier. What you really want to watch out for, however, is when they show their teeth. If teeth follow a serious display of anger, this means they are ready to physically attack. A visual signal that predicts a specific action is called an intention cue, and being able to read these will greatly help you deal with aggression.
• Both sides of the lips rising, of course, is generally an indication of positive emotion or at least a neutral one. 
• Negative emotions that aren't aggressive, which are usually temporary dispositions like disgust, can make the nose crinkle up. This works very much like the eyes narrowing--minimizing the sensory input from the displeasing subject. The next time you hear a really gross and unfunny joke, pay attention to what your nose does. You may not be able to smell the joke, but your brain doesn't want to risk that chance.
• A half smile (seen more often than you think) is often indicative of arrogance. A lip corner raised and tightened on only one side of the mouth is a telltale sign of contempt, usually paired with a small eye-crinkle on the same side. Lets say you do really well on a test in a class your friend has some trouble in. If he gives you the half-smile, you can go ahead and assume he's jealous.

Aren't there more emotions?

Yes there are, but once you learn the basic technique to decoding what you see, deciphering other emotions become much simpler. Start with the basic happiness, anger, and disgust. Those three are around you in abundance and you'll have little trouble instigating them for a bit of practice. Just keep practicing and you'll naturally pick up how to read the other ones.

Terms to remember:

Intention cue


Navarro, J. (2008). What Every BODY Is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Speed-Reading People. New York: Harper Collins.


O'Sullivan, M. (2009, April 17). Micro Expression and a Good Liar. Psychology Today. Retrieved November 28, 2011, from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/deception/200904/micro-expressions-and-good-liar

Uncredited (2011, March 29th). Microexpressions - A Key to Studying Human Behavior. Social Engineering. Retrieved November 28th, 2011, from http://www.social-engineer.org/interesting-se-articles/microexpressions-a-key-to-studying-human-behavior/


Uncredited. Micro Expressions Introduction. Global Emotion. Retrieved November 28, 2011, from http://www.globalemotion.de/micro-expressions-einfuehrung.html

University at Buffalo (2006, May 5). Lying Is Exposed By Micro-expressions We Can't Control. ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 28, 2011, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2006/05/060505161952.htm

Wilson, S. (2009, March 6). Paul Ekman, the master of micro-expressions. The Guardian. Retrieved November 28, 2011, from http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/mar/07/micro-facial-expressions-poker-face
 

A Guest Entry

For this week, I have a guest writer talking about an experience involving the manipulation of body language. 


Without further ado, here is Lizzie:

"My name is Lizzie, and I'll be your guest blogger for the day. I run the blog Animation Foundation, where I connect art history to relevant topics for the animator.

Body language is an important tool for the animator, and I’m delighted to be able to talk about it. I will spin a tale of a time where I had to actively alter my body language in order to make a better impression of myself.

I've dealt with social anxiety for many years now, and last year I decided to become more active about working on it. I'd go out to parties with friends every weekend, even though I would much rather spend the night at home with a book.

This night’s party was happening at a nice house in the middle of town. The place was a hive of activity, all variety of hipster drinking and chattering away. In short: my worst nightmare. How would I talk to these people? Would they hate me? Would I make a fool of myself? I could feel my palms start to sweat by just thinking about it.

My friend led me over to a group of people chatting under a tree and introduced me. I had to make sure I kept and held good eye contact, and gave the guy in front of me a strong handshake to make a good impression. I resisted all want to hunch over and stare at the ground, and instead forced myself to keep my arms uncrossed. I made myself keep attentive and interested throughout our short conversation. I’ve never found small talk to be particularly attractive or easy, but these activities are the backbone of any big party.

I know that having open body language would give people a better impression of myself. I am naturally reserved and distant, but unfortunately most people take that as being antisocial. I have to make a conscious effort to seem welcoming and open. Unlike naturally charismatic people, I need to keep track of every little thing I do out in public and make sure it’s as welcoming as possible. It’s exhausting, but a necessary evil I’m willing to deal with."

Using body language to improve your social interactions. This is what I'm talking about!

Consistency and Honesty

I've mentioned on more than one occasion about the importance of behaviors being consistent with emotion, and I feel like I could do a better job explaining it in it's own entry.

To put it simply, when I say "consistent" I mean like if someone says they're really sad about something, their body language should reflect that (shoulder low, head down, arms stiff, face distorted, etc.). What a sad person wouldn't be doing is bouncing up and down, walk with light steps, and have a smile. Looking for inconsistency is  key in determining whether or not someone is being dishonest.

How do I know which cues are important?
Another thing to look out for is the length of time it takes for the behavior to appear after the person expressed their emotion. An honest nonverbal behavior is instant and will always begin slightly before the person finishes saying their thoughts. For example a happy person, when asked "how are you doing?", would crack a smile right before they say "great!" A dishonest signal would require thought, and usually will come after the statement.

As long as you're looking at their face, you should probably also note the immediate reaction to "how are you doing?" If the person is truly upset about something, they may actually give you a frown before they lie and answer "good." This, and any type of honest signal happens in a split-second, so don't blink!

This seems like a tough thing to practice.
This concept makes perfect sense in my head, but I'm having a pretty difficult time putting it down on e-paper so I hope this is at least making some sense to you, too. The easiest thing you can do is simply ask someone "how are you doing?" and see how they respond. The most effective way to practice is figure out if the person is having a bad day before you ask because most people will lie about having a bad day. Just remember what you learned and try to match what you hear with what you see.


Navarro, J. (2008). What Every BODY Is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Speed-Reading People. New York: Harper Collins.

Expressing Emotions On-Stage and Off

I had a pleasant conversation with an experienced stage actor and director, Robert Stanton, who also has taught English for a very long time.

Manipulating body language is very useful in social situations, but it also comes in handy when an actor on stage needs to express an emotion clearly enough so the audience can understand the general feeling of the play even if they have trouble hearing the lines.

"When I directed plays, I told my cast that it should be almost possible for the audience to follow the story even if they couldn't hear the words."

Of course hearing the words are paramount to understanding the substance of a play, but being able to effectively portray a given feeling can at least help the audience understand the emotional drama of the scene. A woman brushing off tears can easily portray sadness on the silver screen, but on stage the actors should get on their knees and cover their face as they loudly bawl to convey sadness across a larger distance.

Speed-reading body language can greatly help you as an educator, as well. If you're in a position to teach someone else, it's important to note the second-by-second reaction of your students to what you are saying.

"In teaching, when I was introducing a new or controversial point, I watched the students' body language closely. If they smiled or nodded slightly, I felt that things were going well; but if they sat stone-faced, I switched to a different approach. Even in personal conversation, sitting stone-faced is intimidating."

Being able to read nonverbal responses is especially important in situations where you want to impress whoever you're talking to, such as a professor or boss. A stone-faced boss is either unimpressed or totally uninterested in what you're saying, unintentionally telling you that you need to change your approach! Use these cues to your advantage because body language is there to help you in every situation, including romantic relationships.

"Body language also plays a huge role in ordinary life. In a couple, actions with each other such as turning away, being monosyllabic (using words with only one syllable, such as "no"), or ignoring the other person communicates as loud as words, if not louder."

I think Bob would agree with me when I say body language is easily applicable in every situation that involves more than one person. I will say again: body language are honest reactions governed by the reactive portion of the brain. The ability to read and decode these reactions will only help you.

Looking at Real-World Examples

This entry is going to be a podcast! I'll be talking about some key observations regarding Bill Clinton's famous response to his alleged affair with Monica Lewinsky.

This is the speech in question:

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV6yhEbEw9c

Don't worry about the length, the segment I'll be talking about starts at 6:18 and it will go by quick!

Enjoy!

*Disclaimer*
This podcast is merely an analysis on body language in speech. Though I use some mild accusatory language, this analysis in no way reflects my own political views nor am I trying to convince you that Bill Clinton is any less of a decent man.

The Guide to Beating Your Friends at Poker

"Play the player, not the game."
I've already mentioned more than once on using some of these observations to your advantage in a game of poker, so I figured I'd compile all the important ideas and add some new ones to make a neat set of instructions for you. With this, I hope you can gain and harness the body language skills to decimate your friends' wallets.

*Disclaimer*
If you are hosting a poker night, participants MUST be legitimate guests and/or friends, the session MUST be closed to the public, and you MUST NOT charge an entry fee that is separate from the stakes. If you don't follow these rules, you are breaking the law!

I'm mainly focusing on Texas Hold 'Em, if you don't know the rules, look them up.

What you want to pay attention are behaviors that are irregular. A "tell" could be meaningless if it is constantly present--knees bouncing up and down is a sign of excitement, but if the person is constantly bouncing his knees he could just be naturally restless. Figuring out a person's normal behavior is called establishing a baseline.

Step 1: The initial deal

• Pay attention to the other participants as they get their cards and look for the changes in their face. Facial tells can be as subtle as a slight eye brow-raise (pleasure, excitement) or as apparent as a cringe. 
• If they have a good pa-pa-pa-poker face, check their legs and feet (but don't be obvious!). If their knees start to bounce in reaction to seeing their hand, you can assume the cards are good.
• Check for defensive behaviors. These will look as if to help the person hold his/her ground. Look for fist clenching or grabbing on to a chair's armrest, as well as feet being planted firmly on the ground. If the person gets defensive, it means they are going to have a tough time winning with their cards. I've talked about pacifying behaviors before. The same rules apply.

Step 2: The flop, turn, and river

• Each time a new card is presented is an opportunity for you to see how the players feel. You can apply the same ideas from Step 1 here. Even if you fold early, I highly recommend still paying attention to how your friends behave.
• The card-reveal phase is also a place where you can observe a constant behavior to stop. If a person constantly bounces his knees and then suddenly stops on the turn, take note of it. He suddenly has a reason to be inconspicuous and monitor his own behavior, which means he's in bluffing mode.
• Some may pretend to give negative signals to throw you off, but all you have to do is see how long they keep it up. If their act is drawn-out over a long period of time, then they are most likely lying. A 10-30 second display of "oh my hand sucks" is way too long to be considered an honest reaction. An honest reaction (or "tell" or "twitch") is just that: a reaction. These should never last longer than 3 seconds.

Step 3: The betting phases

• Here you want to see how the players would react to a raise in bet. If a player is confident in their hand, they will show no defensive signs. A confident player will sit up when faced with a challenge, and the bad poker players usually won't be able to hide their excited knee-bouncing at this point. The knee-bounce is super important, if you couldn't already tell.
• You should also pay attention to who raises the bet as well. Was he the one that displayed defensive signals in the other phases? He's bluffing, so you should call or raise further. Make sure their actions match their earlier behavior. If they don't match, it's a bluff. Also make sure the act of betting (an act of high confidence) is followed by confident nonverbal behavior. If they pacify themselves after a raise, their actions don't match their feelings: it's a bluff.

What do you do against an "all-in"?

Well, that's up to you. Has the player been consistently displaying signs of confidence? Does he have an upright posture? Does he have a smile and a "twinkle" in his eyes? It may be safer to cut your losses here and let him win this round. Conversely, a player may use the "all-in" as a desperate way to get back into the game. If his earlier behaviors match this sentiment, you can definitely match his bet and get him out of the game.

Closing

I hope this guide helps you, but remember: with great power comes great responsibility. You should be thinking about how your winnings are going to affect the relationship you have with your friends. If you don't actually care, then by all means take their money. You earned it.

Terms to remember:

Baseline

The general rule about an honest reaction being quick

Arneson, E. Texas Hold 'Em Poker Rules. Retrieved from http://boardgames.about.com/cs/poker/a/texas_rules.htm

Navarro, J. (2008). What Every BODY Is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Speed-Reading People. New York: Harper Collins.

Uncredited. Retrieved from http://www.flopturnriverpoker.com/poker/pacifying-behavioral-tells