Sunday, March 19, 2006
Spot the liar
FORGET the image of the fidgety liar nervously blinking, scratching his nose and stroking the back of his or her head. Researchers have found liars stay motionless and control their blinking as they try not to give anything away.
When liars do use their hands, they use extravagant movements to cover up their dishonesty, stretching out their arms or rhythmically jabbing the air to emphasise a point.
The findings are likely to be of interest to police, employers and suspicious spouses, who may wrongly interpret nervousness as dishonesty but miss more reliable indicators.
For some reason this story isn't accompanied by the picture they used on the home page as an example of an accomplished liar. (One day I may even take the time to learn how to capture the page for future viewing)
The Australian example of an experienced liar.
