Usually once we get to know a person, we can tell whether or not they are telling the truth. For some people we can always tell if they are lying, and some people can lie with a straight face and we never know if they are telling the truth. A common thing I have heard is to watch their eyes and see if they are looking up to the left, and if they are that means they're lying. But some people can look you straight in the eye and lie to you.
The text said to listen to how a person words something if we want to see if they are lying.
I found the different lie detector tests very interesting. I think in general they are a bad way to go about testing a person's innocence. As the text said, a person's bodily reactions to the test may be misinterpreted because they are anxious about a crime they didn't commit, and a guilty person could go free. It seems like its a hard way to determine guilt when there could be many other factors associated with your reactions or brain activity (an example of another test). Whether it is the case of an argument with a friend or the case of a criminal, it is usually impossible to know whether or not a person is lying, and so far there are no good ways to tell 100% of the time.
Interesting post. I have also heard that if a person looks down to the left while they are talking that they are more likely to be telling a lie. We need to be aware of that fact that this could just be pseudoscience. There have been instances in my life (especially when I was younger) when I had been accused of something I didn't do. Then, when I was interrogated by a teacher or my parents, I would get nervous and tend to look away while talking to them. Then the teacher or my parents would tell me to "look them in the eyes" as if that would make me tell the truth. In most cases, this just make me more intimidated and made it harder to remember exactly what had happened. Just thought that helped show that some signs of lying aren't always accurate. Good post!
I agree that lie detectors are a bad be-all-end-all into investigations of one's honesty. Personally, if I were being asked a serious question under investigation, I would be anxious about the entire situation even if I were completely innocent. Any kind of interrogation situation could lead to these kinds of effects, as the comment above explained.
Very interesting post. I know in a situation with a lot of punishment and I was put under a lie detector test I would be a nervous wreck and would probably be seen as guilty although I wasn't. I think lie detector's are helpful in some way but some people who are innocent should not be put through that. With the technology we have today there should be another way to find out whether or not people are lying.
I agree with you about lie detector tests, they are too many other factors to be considered with those. And I don't believe the part about people looking to the left when they are lying. I'm sure that they are less likely to make eye contact, but I doubt that they only look to the left. I liked your picture, as well. It was clever :)
I completely agree with you on the fact that lie detector tests are a bad way of going about detecting a person's innocence. I know that if I had been charged of a crime that I did not commit, I would be very on edge and probably display all of the bodily reactions that a guilty person would as well. I think that lie detectors can be very useful in certain scenarios however, mainly those in which a guilty person may admit to the crime that they committed simply by being put under the stress of taking a lie detector test. I think that in general there are better ways of detecting whether a person is innocent or guilty, such as excessive questioning by figures of authority.
Another good point to add about the deficiencies with lie detector tests is the fact that some individuals are professionally trained to "outsmart" these tests. There is experimentation in the army where soldiers are trained to beat methods of obtaining information by the enemy through controlling their thoughts and heart rate. Also, a huge discussion in this realm of Psychology right now is whether or not Pathological liars can beat a polygraph or other lie-detection test. A huge consensus found is that these individuals can beat this type of test, because it is not 100% accurate if they actually believe what they are saying is true due to their mental illness. The question, for me, then becomes-- do they believe they are telling the truth or do they know they are lying and just cannot resist?
Excellent post. I have a problem (though its not really a problem for others) I tend to laugh when I try to lie to a person I know. Something about the idea of my trying to fool someone who can see straight through me just makes me crack up. Although my voice can take certain tones where it'll be hard to tell. After one of my swim practices I was taking my girlfriend home because she stayed after school and I was running late and only had time to put a towel on over my suit. I walked into the classroom (It was a 2 student class and the teacher knew me fairly well) I walked in and she asked if I was wearing anything underneath. I said no and took my towel off and the three of them freaked out. After they screamed they really thought I didn't have a suit on underneath and one of the girls said that I had such conviction in my voice she believed me.