Paper: The Dimensions of Deception Detection

Together with co-authors Iain Hamlin and Gordon Wright I just published a paper on the dimensions of deception detection in the journal Applied Cognitive Psychology. In this paper, we investigate what types of cues people use when attempting to detect deceit. It turns out that people mostly rely on nonverbal & paraverbal cues related to anxiety, and cues related to detail & level of involvement. In this paper we show why we shouldn’t just look at which cues people use when detecting deceit, but also focus on how those cues are used exactly.

The full reference for this paper is:

Hamlin, I., Wright, G., Van Der Zee, S., & Wilson, S. (2018). The Dimensions of Deception Detection: Self-reported Deception Cue Use is Underpinned by Two Broad Factors. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 1-8. DOI: 10.1002/acp.3402

Abstract:

Many perceived cues to deception have been reported in the literature, but little attention has

been paid to how they are combined when making deception judgments. The present research

used a data‐driven approach to investigate how cues are integrated when evaluating veracity.

Two hundred fifteen participants performed a deception detection task before completing a

deception cue use questionnaire. A factor analysis of the questionnaire data produced two

dimensions, one associated with nonverbal cues to anxiety and the other associated with detail

and level of involvement. The present work extends our understanding of deception detection

processes and underlines the importance of examining not only the cues that people use but also

the way in which they use them.