Humanity has evolutionally developed the ability to lie as a protective and survival mechanism. In the contemporary world where homeland security, law enforcement, and other areas require interacting with a variety of potential offenders, it is essential for professionals to be able to detect liars. Although deception is misleading and might be complicated, this paper will demonstrate that with proper training, the identification of lies accurately is possible and particularly effective for the functioning of security services.
There are several pivotal aspects that demonstrate why detecting lying and liars are essential for a safe society. Firstly, deception is a protective and survival mechanism that has evolved in primates and has been used by humans throughout their history. However, more importantly, to survive, humans must not only be able to tell lies but also detect them. It is the detection of deceptive actions or speech that might save one’s life, which is why the identification of liars should be a basic ability of humans. However, people normally do not possess such an important skill. According to “this general deception-detection incompetence is inconsistent with evolutionary theory, which suggests that the accurate detection of deception is critical to human survival” (Ten Brinke et al., 2014, p. 1098). Thus, although naturally capable of lying, people experience difficulty in detecting deception without additional tools.
Secondly, although people use advanced equipment to detect lies, such equipment might be unavailable in all situations when the detection is necessary immediately. Indeed, deception-detecting devices read the signals of the body and report changes in them that help interpret one’s behavior or speech as lies (Ten Brinke et al., 2014). However, researchers state that humans, like non-human primates, have innate capabilities to identify lies, which deteriorated due to the complexity of cues related to socialization.
Thirdly, in day-to-day law enforcement situations, professionals need hands-on experiences and skills for the quick identification of lies based on social indicators, which validates the need for training. According to Driskell et al. (2012), social indicators of lies are more traceable in examining several co-conspirators who might project different signals. For example, a truth-telling group refers to past events using plural first-person pronouns and retrieving information from transactional memory, which implies collective experiences. However, liars do not refer to transactional memory due to the fabrication of the information (Driskell et al., 2012). Fourthly, eliciting lies by law enforcement professionals either about past or future events relies on the identification of unconscious clues, such as anxiety, gaze, bodily movements, and others (Driskell et al., 2012). Such details, when properly researched and implemented in the interviewing process upon training, might be useful in the timely and accurate identification of lies.
Finally, the implementation of specifically designed interviewing procedures aimed at detecting lies should be a priority for law enforcement. Indeed, as stated by Vrij and Granhag (2014), the use of unexpected questions, forced turn-taking, and the technique of “knowing it all” by interviewers helps create an environment in which lies are easily detected (p. 941). Thus, the implementation of such specific tools in the process of interviewing liars demonstrates the importance of training in this area to maximize the human ability to differentiate between truth-tellers and liars.
In summation, this persuasive essay was designed to convince readers that training for detecting social and unconscious indicators of lying is crucial for the effective performance of security professionals in making the world safer. Despite the innate capability of primates to lie and detect lies, humans’ ability to identify deception deteriorates in comparison to non-human primates. However, the availability of unconscious signals, evidence on deception-accompanying behavior, and interviewing techniques demonstrate the opportunity for people to perfect their ability to detect lies. Such an ability is essential in saving lives and making the world a better place to live.
References
Driskell, J. E., Salas, E., & Driskell, T. (2012). Social indicators of deception. Human Factors, 54(4), 577-588.
Ten Brinke, L., Stimson, D., & Carney, D. R. (2014). Some evidence for unconscious lie detection. Psychological Science, 25(5), 1098-1105.
Vrij, A., & Granhag, P. A. (2014). Eliciting information and detecting lies in intelligence interviewing: An overview of recent research. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 28(6), 936-944.