The Role of Motivation in Detection of Deception Research

Jul 01, 2006

Early reports on the accuracy of the polygraph technique were largely anecdotal. For example, if ten suspects were administered a polygraph examination on a particular crime and one of them failed and...

Common Errors in Evaluating a Suspect's Truthfulness Through Behavior Symptom Analysis

Dec 01, 2005

Over the years we have been consulted on cases in which an investigator was absolutely convinced that a particular suspect was lying when, in fact, the person was telling the...

Common Errors in Evaluating a Suspect's Truthfulness

Dec 01, 2005

Over the years we have been consulted on cases in which an investigator was absolutely convinced that a particular suspect was lying when, in fact, the person was telling the...

Evaluating the Suspect Who Accepts Some Responsibility for the Crime

Aug 01, 2005

During the course of interviewing a suspect who is guilty of committing a crime it is not uncommon for the suspect to acknowledge some level of responsibility for committing the...

Testifying on a Suspect's Behavior Symptoms

Oct 01, 2004

Recently, the Washington Supreme Court reversed a rape conviction partially because the trial court admitted an investigator's testimony that the defendant's verbal and nonverbal behavior symptoms were indicative of guilt...

The Significance of Listing in Behavior Symptom Analysis

Jan 01, 2004

Listing, as a behavior symptom, describes a series of events or information included within a subject's response. In the following dialogue both of the subject's responses illustrate an...

Laughter and the Detection of Deception

Oct 01, 2003

Recently my wife and I attended her high school reunion. While such reunions are marketed as a great time and an opportunity to get re-acquainted, in truth they are very anxiety...

Contaminating a Subject's Behavior

Jul 01, 2003

When inferring deception from a suspect's behavior, investigators must remember that a subject's outward behaviors during questioning are not direct signs of lying. Rather, when a person lies behavior symptoms...

Neurolinguistic Evaluation

May 01, 2003

Neurolinguistic Evaluation

Principles

The outer cortex of the human brain is divided into left and right hemispheres. When performing different activities, one hemisphere dominates over...

The Role of Motivation in the Interpretation of a Subject's Behavior

Feb 01, 2002

In psychology, a person's motivation generally relates to the strength of their desire to accomplish a specific goal, which is also referred to as their drive. On the other hand, the concept...

Evaluating Omissions within a Suspect's Statement

Oct 01, 2001

An earlier web tip discussed the evaluation of inconsistencies within a suspect's statements. Inconsistencies represent factual changes in an account whereas omissions represent expected information not included within a response...

Assessing Attitudes: The Victim Mentality

Sep 01, 2000

A suspect guilty of a crime often displays attitudes during an interview which are typically quite different from those attitudes exhibited by an innocent person. During an investigation, an investigator may note...

The Role of Eye Contact During Interpersonal Communication

May 01, 2000

When average people are asked about nonverbal communication, most will mention eye contact. The eyes are considered "the windows of the soul" and The Eagles warned that, "you can't hide your lying...

THE ROLE OF DEFENSE MECHANISMS IN DETECTING DECEPTION

Mar 01, 2000

The act of committing a crime is always associated with an emotional state. Most criminals experience some level of shame, guilt or loss of self-esteem. Others primarily experience a fear of being...

THE INFLUENCE OF THE INVESTIGATOR'S DEMEANOR ON A SUBJECT'S BEHAVIOR

Oct 01, 1999

One of the principles of behavior symptom analysis taught in the Reid Technique is that the investigator's demeanor has a significant influence on the subject's behavior. For example, an investigator who becomes...

INTERPRETING VERBAL PHRASES

Sep 01, 1999

During an interview a subject freely chooses which words or phrases to use when responding to the investigator's question. This choice is not random or haphazard; it is carefully selected to offer...

PARALINGUISTIC COMMUNICATION

Jul 01, 1999

The paralinguistic channel of communication is defined as speech characteristics falling outside of the spoken word. Just as a subject's nonverbal behavior can completely alter the meaning of words within a verbal...

EVALUATING A SUBJECT'S POSTURE DURING AN INTERVIEW

May 01, 1999

The foundation of a subject's nonverbal communication is his posture. How a person's body is positioned in a chair often dictates arm and leg movements and, in some cases, even eye contact...

EVALUATING HAND BEHAVIOR DURING AN INTERVIEW

Feb 01, 1999

Nonverbal communication often provides information about the sincerity or truthfulness of a person's verbal statement. In this context, hand activity is important for an investigator to evaluate during a subject's response to...