Social skills,distorted perception and being suspect: Studies in impression formation and the ability to deceive

Conclusion This paper dealt with the relation between social skills and a) making a suspicious impression, b) the ability to deceive. The results suggest that observers typically entertain perceptual distortion: introverted and socially anxious persons automatically impress them as less credible while extroverts establish more credibility. Introverts and socially anxious people are more likely to be designated as suspect in the sense of Article 27 of theCod of Penal Procedure-their extroverted and non-anxious counterparts run less risk on this point. The results further show that social skills are related to the ability to hide the truth. The introverted and socially anxious are poor liars. In sum, we may conclude that the likelihood of criminal stigmatization is appreciably greater if one's behavior is introverted or socially anxious because they impress others as suspicious (they run the risk of being apprehended more readily and they will more quickly succumb under questioning). Eysenck's theory (1984) states that crimes are more strongly correlated with extroversion. This means that extroverts have a double advantage. The double handicap for introverted and socially anxious persons could be undone if detection officers would pay somewhat greater attention to the extroverted and socially non-anxious. In addition, we would recommend that training programs for police officers include material on impression formation and impression management as aspects of social skills.     

Suspects,Lies, and Videotape: An Analysis of Authentic High-Stake Liars

This study is one of the very few, and the most extensive to date, which has examined deceptive behavior in a real-life, high-stakes setting. The behavior of 16 suspects in their police interviews has been analyzed. Clips of video footage have been selected where other sources (reliable witness statements and forensic evidence) provide evidence that the suspect lied or told the truth. Truthful and deceptive behaviors were compared. The suspects blinked less frequently and made longer pauses during deceptive clips than during truthful clips. Eye contact was maintained equally for deceptive and truthful clips. These findings negate the popular belief amongst both laypersons and professional lie detectors (such as the police) that liars behave nervously by fidgeting and avoiding eye contact. However, large individual differences were present.     

New paradigms in researching police use of firearms

In the current climate of increasing violence against the police, the use of force by police officers has been the focus of much dabate, ranging from the use of non lethal incapacitant sprays to the use of lethal force^I. We review literature concerning the use of lethal force by police officers, evaluate its utility for operational contexts, consider its implications for training and propose that new technological devices can revolutionise the identification of crucial variables.     

Neuro-linguistic programming and the police: Worthwhile or not?

In the seventies Bandler and Grinder (1975, 1979; Grinder &; Bandler, 1976) developed their model of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP). The aim of this model is to facilitate communication between persons (Particularly between counselors and clients). There is a growing body of literature on NLP; it is nowadays even used in a police context (Gray, 1991; Mayers, 1993; Rhoads &; Solomon, 1987). What does NLP mean? To what extent does empirical research support the NLP-model? And, to what extent is NLP useful for the police? This article addresses these three questions.     

The Verifiability Approach to detection of malingered physical symptoms

Inspired by recent research showing that liars are reluctant to include verifiable details in their accounts, we explored in two studies (N?=?125; N?=?105) whether participants who report fabricated symptoms (‘malingerers’) present fewer verifiable details than participants who report genuine ill-health symptoms. In Study 1, participants were instructed to describe a typical day on which they had experienced a genuine or malingered symptom. Truth tellers’ statements included significantly higher proportions of verifiable details concerning the reported symptoms than malingerers’ statements. Compared with truth tellers, malingerers generated longer statements with more unverifiable details. In Study 2, we informed participants that their statements may be assessed for verifiable or checkable details. Malingerers often mentioned ‘false’ witnesses to provide checkable information and differences between malingerers and truth tellers in statement length, and checkable and uncheckable details were no longer significant. The utility and implications of the Verifiability Approach to detection of malingering are discussed.     

The effect of the presence and seating position of an interpreter on eliciting information and cues to deceit

The present experiment examined how the seating position of an interpreter during investigative interviews affects information elicitation and cues to deceit. A total of 60 native English speakers were interviewed in English and 200 non-native English speakers were interviewed in English (a non-native language) or through an interpreter who either sat next to the interviewer, behind the interviewee or interpreted via the telephone. Interviewees either lied or told the truth about a mock security meeting they watched. Interviewees who spoke in their native language provided more detail than interviewees who spoke in their native language through an interpreter or in a non-native language (English) without an interpreter. The latter groups did not differ. Additionally, the amount of detail differentiated truth tellers from liars in all conditions and interviewees found the presence of an interpreter to be a largely positive experience. The interpreter’s seating position had no effect on the findings.