Training to detect deception from behavioural cues: attempts and problems

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511490071.011

11 - Training to detect deception from behavioural cues: attempts and problems

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 September 2009

Ray Bull

Edited by

Pär Anders Granhag and

Leif A. Strömwall

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Ray Bull: Affiliation:
Leicester University, UK
Pär Anders Granhag: Affiliation:
Göteborgs Universitet, Sweden
Leif A. Strömwall: Affiliation:
Göteborgs Universitet, Sweden

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Summary

Fifteen years ago at the beginning of a book chapter on training to detect deception (Bull, 1989) I noted that:

An advertisement urging people to join a British police force recently appeared in a Sunday newspaper. Part of it stated that, ‘Most people speak the truth most of the time. When they lie they experience stress and it usually shows’. Accompanying the words in the advertisement were a number of photographs of people. One of these showed a man touching the side of his nose with the index finger of his left hand. The caption for this stated that, ‘The man with his finger to his nose is showing one of the signals associated with lying’. The advertisement continued by saying that, ‘After training, you'll register the particular things a person does when conversing normally. When a change of topic brings about significant changes in their actions you'll notice that too’.

Another similar advertisement stated, ‘If you're interviewing a suspect, how do you know if he's telling the truth? You'll be taught the rudiments of body language, gesticulation and body movements that indicate stress and nervousness’.

In closing that chapter I made the point that:

Until a number of publications in refereed journals appear demonstrating that training enhances the detection of deception, it seems that some police recruitment advertisements and police training books are deceiving their readers.

This chapter will focus on attempts to train groups of people to detect deception from non-verbal behaviour.

Type: Chapter
Information: The Detection of Deception in Forensic Contexts , pp. 251 - 268

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511490071.011 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2004

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