Page 46 - Deception at work all chapters EBook

Signs of Deception 87

Table 4.2 Objectives and clues

Objectives Where the lie is revealed
CONSCIOUS
Unconscious Content Syntax Paralinguistics Non-verbal Attitude
Ancillary verbal Body
What he says Words used communication language

ATTACK Treated as a separate response (see this chapter page [xref])

CONVINCE BY See page See page See page [xref] See page See page
FALSIFICATION [xref] [xref] [xref] [xref]

AVOID MAKING
ADMISSIONS

EVASION

FINDING OUT
WHAT YOU KNOW

Lack of commitment

Reducing anxiety
within the response

Attitude

Also, the liar’s attitude will be revealed mainly in the content

There are also peripheral clues, in content, syntax and so on, arising from the way a liar
seeks to minimize punishment and frustrate follow-up action. In fact, we are flooded with
signs of deception but often fail to consciously register and deal with them.

We may unconsciously recognize a lie, but consciously fail to challenge it

Unconscious symptoms of deception in the content

GENERAL

We can easily recognize a liar’s conscious objectives by relying on our deception theory
and resolution plan but unconscious clues are less easy to spot although they are equally
important. But please remember, there is seldom one perfect clue to deception, short of a full
confession. We must always look at clusters of responses and gauge them against the subject’s
baseline responses to non-threatening, or ‘control’ questions. We must also look for incon-
gruencies in the different channels of communication (oral, visual, paralinguistics and body
language).

Incongruency is the best single indicator of deception