Can you spot a liar?

MissMarple · April 3

I've come across this game on the Open University website where you watch people being interviewed and you need to decide whether they are lying or telling the truth.

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/detecting-deception

I watched like a hawk for facial expressions, body language etc., but I was quite clueless whether they were lying or not. I only scored 3 out of 8. I'm autistic and not good at reading body language. However, I had an almost instant like/dislike for each person, and that corresponded with the lying 7 out of 8. So I must have some inbuilt radar for deception, even if I can't explain.

In real life, I tend to be a good judge of character. I think it helps to know how someone behaves normally. For example, when an interviewee looked visibly nervous, I couldn't tell whether it was because they were uncomfortable lying or uncomfortable being filmed. In real life you would know if they are a confident person or easily embarrassed.

If you want to give it a try, no need for registration or download, you can play straight away. I would be interested to know how others score, and how you are in general with spotting lies.

Adrian_Scope · April 3

Thanks for sharing this @MissMarple, I'm going to give it a try later and will share my score.

I think I'm usually pretty good at noticing when someone is lying so I would be interested to see how I get on.

SheffieldMan1976 · April 3

Usually you can tell when someone's fibbing, their lips move.

michael57 · April 3

I have tried it and was very happy with my score

kreacher · April 3

i got 6/8 did better than i thought i would do

Adrian_Scope · April 3

I got 5/8. I kept talking myself out of things, wanting to believe everyone!

It was funny to me how much my confidence had dropped on the scale at the end.

michael57 · April 3

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1114751#Comment_1114751

My dawnie has had a go and scored a good 63% with no help from me as I need to get away with things but I did better than her

MissMarple · April 3

I kept switching back and forth @Adrian_Scope Thinking "Is he smiling so much because he knows that he's getting away with lying? Or because he feels this whole situation is too awkward to handle?" "Is she so wooden because she's hiding a lie, or is that her personality?" 😂 I don't envy police officers or jurors.

Emilee · April 3

I’ve always been very good at telling when someone is lying, the real skill is not letting them know you’ve caught on.

For me, I think it comes down to pattern recognition. I struggled more with the second person and suspected there might be some masking involved, but I trusted my gut and focused on his words rather than his behaviour, and ended up scoring 100%.

MissMarple · April 3

Well done @Emilee I don't know how you do it. 🙂 I was looking at things like nodding/shaking heads, fingers laced together, movement or lack thereof, how much they ramble etc., but all seem so vague and up to interpretation to me.

michael57 · April 3

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1114775#Comment_1114775

You have better eyes than me then 😄

Sandy_123 · April 4

I can, besides the fact they always trip themselves up in the end.

michael57 · April 4

i have to say i never saw that it gave you the answers at the end its a bit misleading if you were to do it more than once

Rosie_Scope · April 4

I got 7/8, so pretty good if I say so myself! I'm usually quite good on picking up on when people are lying or aren't who they say they are, I just find it difficult to trust my instincts sometimes which is where I fell down on that test!

I studied Psychology for a bit when I was younger and I love things like this. I always find it so interesting how different people process things.

baller6 · April 4

i thought they were all, lying i wont tell my score hah

Emilee · April 4

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1114907#Comment_1114907

Do you recall which you got wrong? I found person two and the final one the hardest to read.

Rosie_Scope · April 4

Yes me too @Emilee! The second person was a bit tricky but it was the final person that got me in the end.

MissMarple · April 4

Those who find this easy, can you point at something specific you notice? Body language, wording, anything? Or is it more of a general feeling that you can't explain?

Person two was so obvious to me @Emilee @Rosie_Scope But I got so many others wrong. I simply can't fathom how these things work 😀

Rosie_Scope · April 4

@MissMarple I just had another look and it wasn't the second person I wasn't sure about, it was the third - he was a bit harder for me to read because he seemed sort of nervous at first, but I wasn't sure if it was genuine or not.

For me, a few different things influenced my choices. Having watched them again, I found that a couple of the people who were lying over explained things. They made up stories to make themselves convincing, but I found it had the opposite effect.

And I spotted a lot of micro-expressions. One made intense eye contact and changed the way they blinked in a way that didn't look natural to me. And someone bit their lip after they said something, almost like they regretted what they'd said. One other way that I can it is seeing an expression that doesn't reach their whole face or isn't consistent across their face. For example, someone smiling slightly when they're saying no about something, or frowning/looking concerned yet smirking at the same time.

Santosha12 · 7:39AM

What a really great thread @MissMarple ! Thank you for sharing this 😊.

I was surprised to get a VERY high score (100%); shouldn't be surprised in one way as when I was head of recruitment I was spot on. Every single time (borne out by their references, longevity and very valued contribution); company went from 42 to 480 employees over 3 years - not all 'my recruits', I hasten to add, but very many were.

My surprise comes from my accuracy not being matched in my personal life [vs my professional life] and, most definitely, not, online. Very interesting. Very good as aids reflection. As 'online', can't see them. Personal life obviously I could see them, but still...... Very glad I have no 'Personal life' to speak of now. Online presence I'll speak as a seller..... 'buyer beware'.

Can you spot a liar?

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