Can You Really Separate the Liars from the Truth-Tellers?

Face illusion photo, take a look at the word the face spells

From Denny: Seems the deception researchers think they are on to something in the ongoing search to separate the liars from the nervous who appear to be lying but are not during interviews or interrogations. Most people don't bear up well under interrogation and are understandably nervous, appearing to be guilty when actually they are not. Therefore, the usual "tells" of nervousness or shifty eyes is not enough to determine a liar. You require more than that to make a sound judgment about the veracity of what the subject is telling you.

Scientists have a new theory they think works and it's called "cognitive load." We all know that lying (for most people) is mentally taxing just to keep up with a consistency of the lie over time. You know, get your story line straight. So, scientists think the trick to do while interrogating someone is to ask them to perform a task while lying - or telling the truth - and it will become evident which it is because lying is supposed to be more taxing on the liars.

I doubt how well this theory will hold up; I certainly have known what could be termed professional liars and they demonstrate complete ease at lying. "If their lips are moving; they're lying" is our motto. This theory may work for the majority of the population and in certain cultures. Time will tell as it is tested worldwide.

The researchers are in England and here is what they set up as a study to test their theory: One group was asked to lie convincingly and the other group was told to tell the truth. The story line was about a staged theft scenario that only the truth tellers had actually experienced.

Then the researchers, led by psychologist Aldert Vrij of the University of Portsmouth in England (a completely different culture than in America), brought in a second pair of groups to do exactly the same but with an added condition: they had to maintain eye contact while relating their stories.

When the researchers took the videotapes back to the lab to examine for "tells" and cognitive load they did find some interesting facts. Verbal signs of cognitive load were displayed as fewer spatial details in the suspects' stories. Nonverbal signs of cognitive load were displayed as fewer eye blinks. Eye blinks, you say? Yes, eye blinks when rapid suggest nervousness; fewer blinks are a "tell" displaying cognitive load. So, guess how this is useful? Liars blink less. (I could have told you that and saved you a few million dollars...)

How did the eye contact figure in? It was subtle according to this experiment but did manage to define and magnify the difference between the liars and the truth-tellers.

What to watch for when you try to apply this new theory? Be aware some people naturally blink less than others, so you really need to spend some time getting to know a person before placing them in a stress situation to determine if they are lying or not. Other people have such good and disciplined minds they can carry the cognitive load better than others can. In short, you better actually know the person before you place them in a situation like this because individual differences muddled some of the group results here.

Conclusion

Use this theory as a general baseline to measure the liars in your life. It isn't foolproof or totally accurate like most generalizations. It will help you to grow in your own emotional intelligence about relating to other people.

And, remember, some people appear to be lying because they are withholding private information. Keep that in mind when trying to determine if a person is lying to you: what is their agenda for lying? Are they private people? Are they philanderers? Are they embarrassed for others to realize they are not quite as important as they boast to others?

There are a lot of reasons people lie. Gamblers lie about what they had for breakfast afraid you will nail them down as to where they actually were at a certain time of day and the wife may find out. Other people lie to enhance their status in life and don't want to be found out. Some people lie just to appear more interesting and worthy to others. People are people; love them any way! :)



Written by Denny Lyon
Copyright 4 August 2009
All Rights Reserved



Source: Scientific American



England, University of Portsmouth, Society and Culture, science, research, Eye contact, Cognition, Social Sciences, Psychology, Cognitive load, Emotional intelligence, eye contact, cognitive science

Psychology: Hateful Humor, Hit Counts, and Positive Politics

From Denny: Here is an unusual article about writing in the blogosphere. Since I've never been a fan of political vitriol and character assassination promoted over problem-solving pressing social issues I found this interesting. First I've heard of this Losada Ratio about positive to negative emotions charting what ratio is needed for best group dynamics. There's even some psychology and science involved! :)

"Cruised any politics related web sites recently? Seen any angry, sarcastic, personal attacks wrapped in "humor"? If your answer to the first question was yes and your answer to the second was no, then you either cruise a VERY select set of websites (send me a list, please!) or …. Well, truth to tell, I can’t figure out how you might look through many of the top-rated websites and answer the second question "No."

I was cruising around the web the other day and ran into a post by a blogger who had just gotten his millionth hit. He was giving advice on how to do the same — and since I’m on track to hit that point with my blog in about 2037, maybe I should listen. Then again, maybe not, because two of his key points were to make some enemies and to use enough "vitriolic ad hominem to make sure he never forgets it." Note the lack of an exclamation point on that quote — no excitement here, just sane, sensible advice!

Now, let me note that this advice-giver also suggested that we not confuse "cyber-venom" with "real-world hate", suggesting that the vitriol in web space is equivalent to the theatrics of pro wrestling. And much of it probably is, but that doesn’t mean that engaging in such activities is consequence-free. I suspect that, for many participants, both readers and bloggers, there are very real consequences.

Losada Ratio

Two words: Losada ratio . Marcial Losada’s research established that positivity has a tipping point. At approximately three positive emotions to one negative, individuals and groups begin to experience life in a new way. Patterns of positive relationships, creativity, collegiality, and forward motion emerge that could not have been predicted before. Goals coalesce, pathways appear, and efficacy surges. Further research shows that the highest levels of group performance require a ratio of 5:1."

By Dave Shearon @ Positive Psychology News Daily

Take a look at this interesting site! Just click on the title link to take you to the rest of the article. Thanks for visiting!

Education: How Gifted Children Are Assessed

Image by Kyle Jones via Flickr

How Gifted Children Are Assessed:

"It takes more than test scores that indicate whether or not a child is gifted. While IQ tests are certainly a factor in determining giftedness, they're not everything. It's also important to note than few professionals are specifically trained to assess gifted children. The gifted child has special education and emotional needs. If you suspect your child may be gifted, find a qualified professional with experience in working with gifted kids.

Testing involves administering standardized tests that report results in numbers. The information provided from tests is limited. Assessment is more interactive and requires a highly trained and experienced evaluator."

By Lela Davidson @ HubPages

From Denny: Useful information for every parent to understand how their child is evaluated. Just click on the title link to take you to the rest of the article.

Brain: Creative Problem Solving with SCAMPER

Image of Luciano Passuello

From Denny: From our friends over at LiteMind comes another useful article for your everyday life. They like to write about efficient and innovative ways to use our minds.

Here is an intriguing article about one of my favorite subjects: creative problem-solving!

This is an excerpt from the post by blog owner Luciano Passuello:

"SCAMPER is a technique you can use to spark your creativity and help you overcome any challenge you may be facing. In essence, SCAMPER is a general-purpose checklist with idea-spurring questions — which is both easy to use and surprisingly powerful.

In this posting, I present a complete SCAMPER primer, along with two free creativity-boosting resources: a downloadable reference mind map and an online tool that generates random questions to get you out of a rut whenever you need.

SCAMPER Primer

SCAMPER is based on the notion that everything new is a modification of something that already exists. Each letter in the acronym represents a different way you can play with the characteristics of what is challenging you to trigger new ideas:

S = Substitute

C = Combine

A = Adapt

M = Magnify

P = Put to Other Uses

E = Eliminate (or Minify)

R = Rearrange (or Reverse)

To use the SCAMPER technique, first state the problem you’d like to solve or the idea you’d like to develop. It can be anything: a challenge in your personal life or business; or maybe a product, service or process you want to improve. After pinpointing the challenge, it’s then a matter of asking questions about it using the SCAMPER checklist to guide you."

For the rest of this great article just click on the title link!

Video: CIA Secret Experiments

From Denny: The National Geographic is airing this program on June 20th. I've long complained about America's and other world governments' inhumane medical experiments.

The American military and spouses and children of CIA officers have carried the brunt of suffering in these decades long illegal experiments. "Volunteers" were routinely lied to about the true nature of the experiments. Many, like children of CIA officers, were volunteered by their fathers wishing to advance their careers up the ranks by pleasing their superiors.

While this film does not discuss the children in experiments it does cover the horrors done to unsuspecting military personnel. Mind control is easier than the public believes as too many people have either weak minds or weak wills to stand up to what is wrong in society.

Please watch this program when it airs as it is important to stop this madness in all society around the world! This is the promotional video for the program.

Brain: Sensation versus Perception - Visual Illusions

Sensation versus Perception - Visual Illusions -

"We are not aware of objects themselves but of neural signals about them that are transmitted through our nerves. Perception is a dynamic cognitive process of interpreting information.

It is also learned and is an interpretative process which is subject to influence of other psycho-physiological processes such as emotion, motivation and culture."

By rumelphones @ HubPages

Brainy guy, better sperm?

Image via Wikipedia

“A group of researchers has issued a study finding that higher IQ men have better sperm. So, smarter guys tend to have higher quality sperm, they found. But the reality is, there is no intellectual push-up a man can do to give himself better— that is, more fit or more aggressive sperm.”

From Denny: OK, I could make some wise-cracks here but will behave myself for the time being. Short informative article about research that gives geeks, nerds and other brainy folks hope: Smarter people finally get the last laugh!