LITMIR.BIZ

      Figure 5.3 Detecting Deception Nonconsciously

      Source: Adapted Study 1, from Reinhard, M. -A., Greifeneder, R., & Scharmach, M. (2013). Unconscious processes improve lie detection. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 105, 721–739.

      Illusion of Control

      Say you bought a lottery ticket for a $1, and on the day of the lottery are given a chance to sell that ticket. How much would you sell it for? Since it is only worth $1, shouldn’t that be your asking price? Well, according to a study by Ellen Langer (1975), it depends on whether or not you personally chose your lottery ticket. Langer found that individuals who had picked their own ticket requested four times as much money as did others who had not selected their own ticket. Individuals in this and other studies exhibited what Langer termed an illusion of control, which is a false belief that one can control or influence random or chance events (Langer, 1975, 1977; Thompson, Armstrong, & Thomas, 1998; Thompson & Schlehofer, 2008; Yarritu, Matute, & Vadillo, 2014). Here they believed that they were more likely to win the lottery because they had selected their ticket versus if the ticket had been randomly selected for them. The idea that they can somehow beat the odds and win more than they lose keeps casino slot machine players returning again and again, despite the fact that slot machines keep about 90% of the money put into them (which means that they rake in nine times more money than they return to customers) (Witts, Loudermilk, & Kosel, 2014).

      Social Psychology Applied to Law

      Catching Liars

      If naive individuals are unable to accurately detect deception, then what about professionals? In most cases, training of law enforcement officers is based on the classic book on criminal interrogations by Inbau and his colleagues (Inbau, Reid, Buckley, & Jayne, 2013). Inbau et al. developed the Behavioral Analysis Interview that recommends asking questions that are likely to produce a behavioral response in the suspect, such as nervous movements or changes in eye contact. However, careful research has failed to support Inbau et al.’s claims. Not only do liars fail to demonstrate the expected behaviors (e.g., less eye contact, more fidgeting), they may actually be less likely to show them (Vrij, Fisher, Mann, & Leal, 2010). Even professional lie catchers hold incorrect beliefs (e.g., avoidance of eye contact), which is why they are no more successful than nonprofessionals (Vrij et al., 2000). In fact, even professional lie catchers—individuals trained in the detection of deception—only succeed at about the same rate as students, about 54% of the time (Aamodt & Custer, 2006). Interestingly, criminals outperform most other groups, with an average accuracy rate around 65%, whereas parole officers are accurate only 40% of the time (Aamodt & Custer, 2006).