This is an essay written in exam conditions which answers the question "Explain why non-verbal cues may be unreliable indicators of deception in forensic settings. What other cues could be used when interviewing suspects?"
2. Explain why non-verbal cues may be unreliable indicators of deception in
forensic settings. What other cues could be used when interviewing suspects?
When trying to decide if someone is telling the truth, there are different cues people
typically look out for. What is commonly thought of as a reliable indicator as to whether
someone is lying might not be as accurate as previously assumed. Police workers, detectives
and other public service professionals may need to interrogate a suspect of crime in a
forensic setting for example, at a police station. To do this effectively they need to be
knowledgeable about what cues to employ to decide if a suspect is lying. First, non-verbal
cues will be examined then some more reliable cues will be suggested.
One main non-verbal cue that is considered an indicator of deception is eye-contact.
Researchers investigated whether eye contact by recruiting 338 airline passengers to either
lie or tell the truth about where they were going (Vrij, Leal, Granhag, Warmelink &
Forrester, 2012). They were videotaped and then gaze aversion, or, looking away and
deliberate eye contact instances were coded. They found that gaze aversion rates did not
change in lying or truth telling conditions. However, they did find that deliberate eye
contact was made slightly more often in the lying condition and could therefore be a
potential indicator of deception (Vrij et al., 2012). This finding contradicts some of the
previous literature which have suggested that any eye contact is an unreliable indicator of
deceit. The researchers claim that because previous studies did not measure direct gaze
carefully enough, they found that there was no effect whereas in this study they used a
sophisticated package to code. However, the authors fail to acknowledge the significance of
the artificial nature of the study. In an authentic forensic setting, there is more at risk for the
suspect whereas in this study participants are voluntarily taking part. Due to this,
participants may not put as much effort in to trying to be a convincing liar. However, one
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