INTERPERSONAL DECEPTION .5. ACCURACY IN DECEPTION DETECTION

Previous research on accuracy in deception detection has typically occ urred in a noninteractive context, which has resulted in many potentia lly salient influences being ignored. Guided by interpersonal deceptio n theory, the current experiment examined the influences of suspicion, deception type, question type, relational familiarity, and expertise on accuracy in detecting truth and deceit. An adult sample of novices and a second sample of experts (military intelligence instructions and related military personnel) participated in interviews with strangers or acquaintances during which interviewees gave some truthful answers and some deceptive answers, the latter being one of three types. Inte rviewers, half of whom were induced to be suspicious, followed a stand ard interview protocol that introduced different question strategies. Results showed that (a) accuracy was much higher on truth than decepti on, (b) novices were more accurate than experts, (c) accuracy depended on type of deception being perpetrated and whether suspicion was pres ent or absent, (d) suspicion impaired accuracy for experts, (e) truth- biases intensified with familiar others, especially when interviewers were suspicious, and (f) question strategy ameliorated or aggravated i naccuracy.