For as long as human beings have been talking, they have been telling lies -- and searching for ways of detecting lies. Over the last 100 years, scientists have joined the quest for a good lie detector. The basic research has yielded some fascinating results, some of which form the basis for popular television shows such as "Lie to Me," but the application of this research in field settings remains problematic. In the first talk in this series, Professor Read will outline the findings of basic scientific research, focusing on the "cues" or features of facial, behavioural, and verbal presentation that are often thought to be linked to lying and deception. In the second talk, Professor Hart will discuss various attempts to apply the basic research in field settings, focusing on critical evaluation of procedures such as the polygraph, hypnosis, "truth serum," specialized interviews and questionnaires, and behavioural analysis and profiling in mental health, law enforcement, and national security settings.

Presenters

Detecting liars: Scientific perspectives on the reliability and validity of verbal and nonverbal cues to deception

Dr. Don Read

For centuries, people in all walks of life have made judgments about another person's honesty or dishonesty on the basis of the way they present information.  The number of "cues" that have been thought to reflect lying is in the hundreds from gaze aversion, nervousness, and perspiration to stuttering, microexpressions, and overconfidence.  It is indeed true that we alter our behaviour when we lie; the problem is that we don't all do it the same way. Fortunately, much scientific research has allowed assessments of these presumed relationships between lying and behaviour. The results are both surprising and useful.

Dr. J. Don Read is Professor and Chair of the Psychology Department at Simon Fraser University. Dr. Read received a B.A. degree from the University of British Columbia followed by M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from Kansas State University. His research investigates eyewitness memory, face recognition, reconstructive memory, recollections of childhood sexual abuse, and long-term autobiographical memory and has been funded by the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Alberta Law Foundation. Recently, he co-edited the 2-volume Handbook of Eyewitness Psychology. Dr. Read has published some 80 papers and chapters and co-edited four other books including Recollections of Trauma (1997), Eyewitness Memory (1997), and Adult Eyewitness Memory (1994). Dr. Read has served as President of the Society of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition (SARMAC) and as the North American Editor of the journal Applied Cognitive Psychology. He also sits on the editorial Boards of Law and Human Behavior and Legal and Criminological Psychology.

 

The Technology of Deception Detection: Truth or Lies?

Dr. Steve Hart

In some mental health, law enforcement, and national security settings, detecting deception can be a matter of life and death. There have been a number of attempts to use scientific principles and methods to build better “lie detectors.” Laboratory research indicates that certain of these technologies can be remarkably accurate, but how well do they work in real-life settings? Can we – and should we – use deception detection technologies to make critical decisions?

Dr. Hart is a Professor in the Department of Psychology and a Member of the Mental Health, Law, and Policy Institute at Simon Fraser University in Canada, and also a Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Bergen in Norway. Dr. Hart’s primary area of expertise is clinical-forensic psychology. Most of his work focuses on clinical-forensic assessment in criminal and civil settings, and especially on the assessment of violence risk and the assessment of psychopathic personality disorder. He is the author or co-author of more than 150 articles, chapters, and books, as well as more than 350 conference presentations. He has served as President of the American Psychology-Law Society (Division 41 of the American Psychological Association) and a Director of the Canadian Association of Threat Assessment Professionals. Dr. Hart provided expert testimony in numerous superior courts in Canada and the United States. He has received several awards, including the Saleem Shah Award for Early Career Contributions to Psychology and Law from the American Academy of Forensic Psychology and the American Psychology-Law Society, the Career Contributions Award from the Society of Clinical Psychology (Division 12 of the American Psychological Association), and the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals.