Catching A Suspect In A Lie: Not Always A Symptom Of Guilt

May 01, 2007

A skilled investigator learns to withhold certain inside information from a suspect during an interview in the hope that he can catch the suspect in a lie. For example, the suspect may...

Quoting Statements in an Open Account: Truthful or Deceptive?

Sep 01, 2006

Quoting Statements in an Open Account: Truthful or Deceptive?

September- October

During most interviews the investigator should develop an open, or narrative account from the subject. It is called an open...

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...

The Significance of Specific Denials During Interviews and Interrogations

Oct 01, 2005

Recently, I reviewed a videotaped interview of an 17-year-old suspect who was being questioned about starting a fire that burned down his parent's home. During the interview the investigator asked...

If a Lie is Repeated Often Enough, Can The Person Come to Believe That The Lie Is True?

Sep 01, 2005

During our seminars participants ask many interesting questions about the psychology of lying and factors that affect lie detection. A common question relates to the effects of repeating a false...

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...

The Use of Follow-Up Questions During an Interview

Jul 01, 2005

The primary goal of an interview is to develop meaningful information from a subject. The first step in this process is to ask the right questions. However, merely...

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...

Interviewing Elderly Subjects

Jul 01, 2004

Interviewing techniques presented in textbooks or during seminars generally assume that the person being interviewed is an emotionally healthy and mature individual with a normal IQ. Twenty-five years ago, when...

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 example of...

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 other. In 80%...

Handling The Angry Suspect

Dec 01, 2002

Every investigator has encountered a subject who exhibits symptoms of anger. Of all possible emotions, anger presents the greatest impairment of an investigator's ability to detect deception and persuade a suspect...

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...