Who is a Liar? Using Behavioral Cues to Detect Deception

Previous research has delved into the concept of lie detection to answer the main question: can humans accurately perceive when someone is lying? Research has found that humans, without proper training, have no better chance at determining a lie than determining whether a coin flip will be heads or tails. On average, humans are able to detect 47% of lies and 61% of truths (Bond & DePaulo, 2006). Ekman and O\u27Sullivan (1991) found that those who were more accurate at detecting lies focused on behavioral clues more than anything else. The current study asks participants to view videos of people telling true stories and lies to see if they can correctly identify the lies. We expect the participants to not score above chance at lie detection, but we do expect that people who report using behavioral cues to determine deception will score higher than those who do not. This work is useful for a wide range of professions and interpersonal situations where determining accuracy and honesty is important