Detecting Deception: Experts Not Any Better at Detecting Lies Than Average Citizens, Study Finds

Study Found the More Confident One Is, the More Likely They'll Be Mistaken About Who is Lying

In an Oct. 2 press release, Dr. Michael Woodworth and Dalhousie University, located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, reported on their new research study about individuals' ability to detect deception. The study found that assessing truthfulness isn't so much dependent upon one's ability to pick up on stereotypical clues (fidgeting, eye contact, voice tone), but on how badly one wants to spot such clues. In other words, the more determined or motivated one is to detect deception, the more likely that person will make mistakes.

The study was done using 150 undergraduate students. The student observers were shown videotapes in which 12 people described highly stressful personal experiences. Six of them were completely untrue. Some of the undergraduate participants were offered monetary incentives for accuracy. They were also told that only a small number of people were particularly skilled at catching liars.

The study found that those most invested in detecting deception (those receiving monetary incentive and wanting to be among those most skilled at lie detection) also tended to be more confident in their ability to pick up on body language and other clues thought to be indicative of lying.

Following that train of thought, the researchers noticed that overzealous lie catchers seemed to have a kind of "tunnel vision" that has been observed in some police investigations in both Canada and the U.S. Defense teams often argue that the police were convinced within hours of a crime that they "knew" who committed the crime and therefore did not put much effort into investigating other possible suspects.

Woodworth worked on the study as a graduate student at Dalhousie University. He currently teaches forensic psychology and conducts research as an assistant professor at the University of British Columbia's Okanagan campus. He said: "What's really intriguing about this study is that the people who were very motivated to catch liars tended also to be more confident. And when they were overconfident, they didn't take as much time to reflect on their decisions and tended to make a lot more mistakes."