Can you spot a liar?

MissMarple
MissMarple Community Member Posts: 468 Empowering
in Coffee lounge

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.

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Comments

  • Adrian_Scope
    Adrian_Scope Posts: 14,643 Online Community Programme Lead

    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.

  • michael57
    michael57 Community Member Posts: 3,408 Championing

    I have tried it and was very happy with my score

  • kreacher
    kreacher Community Member Posts: 644 Empowering

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

  • Adrian_Scope
    Adrian_Scope Posts: 14,643 Online Community Programme Lead

    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.

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  • michael57
    michael57 Community Member Posts: 3,408 Championing
    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
    MissMarple Community Member Posts: 468 Empowering

    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.

  • MissMarple
    MissMarple Community Member Posts: 468 Empowering

    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
    michael57 Community Member Posts: 3,408 Championing
    https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1114775#Comment_1114775

    You have better eyes than me then 😄

  • Sandy_123
    Sandy_123 Scope Member Posts: 63,231 Championing

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

  • michael57
    michael57 Community Member Posts: 3,408 Championing

    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
    Rosie_Scope Posts: 9,442 Online Community Team

    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.

  • Rosie_Scope
    Rosie_Scope Posts: 9,442 Online Community Team

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

  • MissMarple
    MissMarple Community Member Posts: 468 Empowering
    edited 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
    Rosie_Scope Posts: 9,442 Online Community Team
    edited April 9

    @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 explain 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.

  • MissMarple
    MissMarple Community Member Posts: 468 Empowering

    Wow @Rosie_Scope that's really impressive that you can spot such tiny details. I'm not even sure I could physically look at someone's mouth and forehead at the same time, let alone notice the difference and interpret their meanings. Have you seen the series Lie To Me? I thought it was really interesting how they read faces. I wonder to what extent is it fiction and what talented/skilled people can actually tell just by facial expressions.

    I'm afraid I didn't get what you meant by aids reflection and being a seller/buyer @Santosha12 Could you possibly rephrase it for me, please?

  • MissMarple
    MissMarple Community Member Posts: 468 Empowering

    Yes, now I understand. Thank you @Santosha12 I'm sorry to hear you were unlucky in personal relationships.

  • Holly_Alumni
    Holly_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 6,534 Championing

    I found this so hard @MissMarple! I thought I could spot a liar reasonably well, but only scored 50%. I definitely found myself over analysing, second guessing myself and everything. Thanks for sharing, was really interesting to take part 😊

  • MissMarple
    MissMarple Community Member Posts: 468 Empowering
    https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1115603#Comment_1115603

    I'm a polygamist too when it comes to dogs @Santosha12 🤣 The more the better 😊 They are wonderful souls.

  • MissMarple
    MissMarple Community Member Posts: 468 Empowering

    I'm in awe of your skills @Emilee Noticing pauses and stuff… It just seems impossible to me.

  • Mary_Scope
    Mary_Scope Posts: 5,741 Scope Online Community Children and Family Specialists

    I scored 5/8! I'm surprised I scored that tbh as I don't think I'm the best at spotting when somebody is lying to me going on past experiences haha!! But learning to trust my gut and natural instincts more now😂 so hopefully one day that will be a bit higher!!

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