Unbelievable facts
As practice shows, any liar always betrays himself. “Even if a person trains so that his face does not give off any emotions, his unconscious still does it, so so-called “microexpressions” can reveal a real mental the condition of the object,” says Stephen Porter, an expert in forensic psychology.
The researcher says that the subtle movements of the facial muscles can easily expose a liar. Social psychologist Mark Frank used computer technology to analyze human facial expressions after a large amount of information on the evolutionary nature of human emotions.
Subjects' microexpressions, such as tics, subtle smiles, closing eyes, etc. are accurate windows of emotions, even if the person is carefully trying to hide their feelings. Frank's system can be used not only to identify potential criminals, it can also uncover terrorist threats. Frank himself, however, emphasizes that his system provides investigators with a good base, but does not prove anything.
It is also worth noting the technology developed by scientists from the University of Utah. They have created a system that detects a liar in his eyes very quickly. Computers and special software monitor eye movements for a minute to then measure cognitive responses. Unlike a polygraph, this device analyzes the subject's emotional response.
The system also records other data, including the time it took to find an answer to the question, how long it takes for the object to read or re-read the question, and how many mistakes it makes. The researchers hope that their technology will be adopted in both the US and Europe, and that it will take its rightful place next to the polygraph.
However, back to the fact that anyone who has ever dealt with a liar will note that some deceivers simply cannot clearly tell and follow the storyline. But even the most talented storyteller can use special models in speech that will tell a lot about him.
In a study published in the American Journal of Forensic Psychiatry, psychology professor Edward Geiselman and colleagues talk about speech patterns they believe are a signal that you are being lied to. Liars do not detail the story much, they often ask again the question they are asked, actively monitor listeners' reactions, speak fragmented, etc.
To expose the liar, Geiselman and his colleagues recommend that listeners ask the deceiver to tell his story in the opposite direction, from the end, and not interrupt. If the brain is the source of all lies, is it possible to simply analyze the activity of a certain part of it to understand whether a person is lying or not?
Scientists are trying to use functional magnetic resonance imaging as a lie detector. In a 2009 study, psychologist Joshua Greene supposedly found this area. However, the researcher admitted that technology cannot distinguish between someone who is going to lie and someone who is hesitant to lie or not.
Despite the limitations of this type of technology, there are already two companies that offer lie detection services based on them. This has led some scientists to actively criticize the method, saying that the standard polygraph provides much more accurate data. Although such research on the creation of such technologies has its opponents and supporters, there is no smoke without fire. In 2005, a psychiatric experiment identified some anomalies in the brain activity of people who are pathological liars.
“Liars had much more white matter and much less gray matter than the average person,” the press release said. White matter helps liars with cognitive skills, which are undoubtedly more needed to “produce” information.
It is also worth noting that in 80 percent of lies, the liar's face “radiates a lot of heat”, so using high-definition thermal imaging technologies, an investigator can easily monitor the veracity of the subject's words. Another fact to consider when recognizing a liar is his handwriting. Despite the fact that handwriting analysis is considered a pseudoscience, it can be of significant help in detecting lies. These conclusions were made by researchers from the University of Haifa in Israel.
Using a computer program that monitors the user's hand, experts have discovered that some signals, such as the time periods it takes for a person to write a word, length, height and width letters, as well as the force with which a person presses on the paper, may indicate whether a person is going to write a false or truthful statement. This technology is designed to work in tandem with a verbal lie detector.
Thus, there are really many ways to identify a liar using scientific methods, so the most important thing in this matter is to take a qualitative approach to analyzing information and constantly improve your knowledge and skills in this matter, along with, of course, the improvement of relevant technologies.