Detecting deceit via analysis of verbal and nonverbal behavior

We examined the hypotheses that (1) a systematic analysis of nonverbal beha vior could be useful in the detection of deceit and (2) that lie detection would be most accurate ii both verbal and nonverbal indicators of deception are taken into account. Seventy-three nursing students participated in a s tudy about "telling lies" and either told the truth or lied about a film th ey had just seen. The interviews were videotaped and audiotaped, and the no nverbal behavior (NVB) and speech content of the liars and truth tellers we re analyzed, the latter with the Criteria-Based Content Analysis technique (CBCA) and the Reality Monitoring technique IRM). Results revealed several nonverbal and verbal indicators of deception. On the basis of nonverbal beh avior alone, 78% of the lies and truths could be correctly classified. An e ven higher percentage could be correctly classified when all three detectio n techniques (i.e., NVB, CBCA, RM) were taken into account.