Journaling

Journaling

Despite lying being against everything that most people stand for, it is evident that almost everybody lies at some point in their lives, making lying and deception common behaviours in people’s daily lives. What defers is the kind of lies that people do. Some people tell white lies to protect someone’s feelings and make them feel better. For example, parents are fond of saying white lies to their children whenever they fail to fulfil the promises made to the children. On the other hand, people make much more severe lies, including lying on a resume or lying to cover up for a crime. In such cases, a need to ascertain whether they are lying rises. Lie detection is significant across all people, including law enforcement officers, LEO, judges, psychologists, students, and job interviewers. Therefore, it is of the essence to look into the ways that one can tell that someone is telling a lie using the steps explained below.

Researchers depict that detecting lies is often hard for most people. This is because of the difficultness underlying the discrimination and measurement of behavioural differences between honest and lying individuals. It is depicted that the ability to detect whether someone is telling a lie is like the probability of tossing a coin. However, lie detection is heavily dependent on one’s instincts (Vrij 4). Meaning, for one to be able to detect falsehoods, he or she should first believe that a person is lying, identify signs that might accurately detect a lie, and then initiate a watch mechanism approach to prove the sign indicators.

Detection through using common signs of lying

Recent studies conducted concerning lie detection indicate that a good understanding of body language concerning deception can aid members of LEO to differentiate between a lie and truth. According to the study, a few red flags that may indicate that someone is lying have been proposed by researchers (Cherry 6). They include vagueness in giving details about an event, speaking in sentence fragments, repeating questions before responding to them, failure to provide particular information when the story is challenged, and grooming behaviours such as pressing fingers to the lips or playing with hair (8). The use of these indications is limited to some extent. Perhaps parents can use red flags to tell whether their children are lying. When it comes to criminals, the red flags lying indicators s may not apply. Some criminal offenders are aware that the LEO may be looking at those signs. Therefore, most of them play relaxed, and they hardly exhibit the signs. Besides, some innocent people have been found to show the red flags due to fear when confrontation and lack the confidence to talk to unfamiliar people, especially police officers (Cherry 12). This brings forth the need to use a more effective detection method, peculiarly when it comes to detecting whether someone is lying over a criminal offense that they committed.

“Watch” lie detection technique

The “watch” technique employs several steps, including baseline establishment, studying one’s eyes movement, identifying “micro-expressions,” on the face, detecting a fake smile, and detecting signs of stress.

Establishment of a baseline and studying of the eye movements

Baseline observations mark the first crucial part of the lie detection process. First, the interviewer should begin by asking a series of innocuous questions which she or he already has the answers for them. Also, questions that the interviewee is unlikely to lie about should be asked. As the interviewee answers the questions, the eye movements of the person are noted. Scientists believe that eye movement has a close association with the part of the brain that someone uses to access and retrieve the information that they tell (Jalili 10). After noting the patterns of “truthful” eye movement, the interviewer can then ask questions that he or she thinks the interviewee does not want to answer honestly. As the questions are being answered, the eye movements are noted and then compared to the already established baseline. If the eye movement does not match with the ones indicated in the baseline, then there is a high probability that the person is telling a lie. Deviation of eye movement might be an indication that the interviewee is possibly not retrieving memories (Jalili 12). Meaning, they are probably accessing a different section of the brain to craft a conceivable lie. Scientists have proposed that eye movement can be rarely faked regularly, despite attempts to do so. They have revealed that the intensity of mental effort required to control a person’s eyes, craft, and tell deceit and, at the same time, sustain a normal conversation is too immense (Jalili 12). Meaning, it is easier to know when a person is lying through watching the movement of their eyes and not lips.

Looking for micro expressions on the face

On top of noting the eye movement, the interviewer can also look into a person’s other facial expressions. It is proposed that the face can inform on the deceiver’s real emotion. It is revealed that the human face and its musculature are extremely complicated than any other external part of the human body. (Jalili 7) This indicates that face muscles are difficult to control, and such muscles are rarely activated by in the absence of genuine emotion. Although signs of emotion may not necessarily indicate guiltiness signs, they may give the interviewer a peek into the person’s underlying feelings that he or she may want to hide.

Spotting a fake smile

It has been found that most liars have a high likelihood of pressing their lips together, resulting in a forced or tense smile. A combination of both mouth and eye combo plays a crucial role in lie identification. Human emotions, including disgust, surprise, fear, happiness, contempt, sadness, and anger, are associated with a smile (Jalili 9). When someone forces a smile, their emotions are likely to come into play. Therefore, focusing on someone’s eyes when they smile can increase the chances of knowing if they are lying.

Looking for signs of stress

When one is pretty sure that someone lied to their face, it is often advisable to press on the issue by asking for more elucidation around the lied statement. There is a high probability that the deceiving person will exhibit physical shifts that can clue one into their uneasiness (Jalili 13). Scientists have revealed that basal ganglia and limbic human brain systems control the processing of stress and noticeable nonverbal dishonesty traits exhibited by humans. When the brain is under pressure, the systems trigger an increase in temperature, which is usually displayed as sweat on the forehead or upper lip part of the face. Most often, people respond to this biological autonomic process by touching their faces, tapping their legs, or twitching hands (Vrij 7). Depending on what you noted during the establishment of the baseline, you can record the deviation hence detect that someone is telling a lie.

Conclusion

Lie detection requires more watching than listening. Meaning, it is rare to hear a lie, but one can easily spot a lie by being aware of the nonverbal signs of communication. It is advisable to let the little white lies go. People can be better off not knowing some truths for the sake of protecting their feelings and those of others. However, it is crucial to detecting a lie if it concerns the safety of others from getting harm.

Works cited

Vrij, Aldert. “A cognitive approach to lie detection.” (2015).

Cherry, K. “Do You Notice the Signs When Someone Is Lying?” Verywell Mind, 2015, www.verywellmind.com/how-to-tell-if-someone-is-lying-2795917.

Jalili, C. “How to Tell If Someone Is Lying to You, According to Body Language Experts.” Time, 2018, time.com/5443204/signs-lying-body-language-experts/.