have noticed that a small number of people, upon hearing what the test is all about, quickly convince themselves that they traced the letter Q in the opposite direction to the way they actually drew it. These people are able to ignore the evidence right in front of them; they twist the facts to fit the type of person they want to be. As a result, the test provides a rough indicator of how good you are at deceiving both yourself and others.
The vast majority of psychological investigation into deception has not focused on the types of people who are good and bad liars. Instead, it has concentrated on the art and science of lie detection. Can people detect deceit? What are the telltale signs that give away a lie? Is it possible to teach people to become better lie detectors?
Soon after I took up my position at the University of Hertfordshire in 1994, I received a curious e-mail that had been sent out to academics across Britain. The e-mail explained that, as part of a week-long national celebration of science, resources were available for a large-scale experiment in which members of the public could participate. The experiment would reach an audience of millions because it would be conducted live on one of the BBC’s flagship science programs, Tomorrow’s World. The e-mail ended by asking academics to submit ideas for the experiment. I thought that it would be interesting to test the lie-detection skills of the entire country, and so I suggested asking several politicians to lie or to tell the truth on the program and have the public try to identify the lies. That way, I argued, it would be possible to determine scientifically which political party had the best liars. A few weeks later I was delighted to discover that my proposal had been chosen, and I started to fine-tune the study.
After numerous telephone calls, the situation became clear: Politicians were unwilling to participate, allegedly because they were terrible liars (none of us believed them). We looked for a prestigious alternative and invited a legendary television political interviewer, Sir Robin Day, to be our guinea pig. Sir Robin was to the BBC what Walter Cronkite was to CBS. His penetrating and abrasive style of interviewing politicians had made him one of the most trusted figures on British television, and had earned him the title of “Grand Inquisitor.” We were delighted when Sir Robin accepted our challenge.
The design of the experiment was simple. I would interview Sir Robin twice, and in each interview I would ask him to describe his favorite film. In one interview he would say nothing but the truth, and in the other he would produce a complete pack of lies. We would then show both interviews on television and see whether the public could detect which interview contained the lies.
The BBC assigned a talented young director named Simon Singh to the project. Simon went on to write several best-selling science books, including Fermat’s Last Theorem and The Code Book. The two of us have worked on various projects together over the years, but we first met to film Sir Robin’s “truth” and “lying” interviews in the lobby of a large London hotel. Just after we finished setting up the camera, the door swung open and in walked Sir Robin. His trademark thick-rimmed glasses and colorful bow tie made him instantly recognizable. As he sat down in front of the camera, he seemed slightly nervous that he was about to receive questions rather than ask them. I began the first of the two interviews, asking him to describe his favorite film. He explained that he had a great love for Gone With the Wind:
So, Sir Robin, what’s your favorite film?
Gone with the Wind.
And why’s that?
Oh, it’s, it, it’s a classic, great characters; great film star—Clark Gable; a great actress—Vivien Leigh. Very moving.
And who’s your favorite character in it?
Oh, Gable.
And how many times
The vast majority of psychological investigation into deception has not focused on the types of people who are good and bad liars. Instead, it has concentrated on the art and science of lie detection. Can people detect deceit? What are the telltale signs that give away a lie? Is it possible to teach people to become better lie detectors?
Soon after I took up my position at the University of Hertfordshire in 1994, I received a curious e-mail that had been sent out to academics across Britain. The e-mail explained that, as part of a week-long national celebration of science, resources were available for a large-scale experiment in which members of the public could participate. The experiment would reach an audience of millions because it would be conducted live on one of the BBC’s flagship science programs, Tomorrow’s World. The e-mail ended by asking academics to submit ideas for the experiment. I thought that it would be interesting to test the lie-detection skills of the entire country, and so I suggested asking several politicians to lie or to tell the truth on the program and have the public try to identify the lies. That way, I argued, it would be possible to determine scientifically which political party had the best liars. A few weeks later I was delighted to discover that my proposal had been chosen, and I started to fine-tune the study.
After numerous telephone calls, the situation became clear: Politicians were unwilling to participate, allegedly because they were terrible liars (none of us believed them). We looked for a prestigious alternative and invited a legendary television political interviewer, Sir Robin Day, to be our guinea pig. Sir Robin was to the BBC what Walter Cronkite was to CBS. His penetrating and abrasive style of interviewing politicians had made him one of the most trusted figures on British television, and had earned him the title of “Grand Inquisitor.” We were delighted when Sir Robin accepted our challenge.
The design of the experiment was simple. I would interview Sir Robin twice, and in each interview I would ask him to describe his favorite film. In one interview he would say nothing but the truth, and in the other he would produce a complete pack of lies. We would then show both interviews on television and see whether the public could detect which interview contained the lies.
The BBC assigned a talented young director named Simon Singh to the project. Simon went on to write several best-selling science books, including Fermat’s Last Theorem and The Code Book. The two of us have worked on various projects together over the years, but we first met to film Sir Robin’s “truth” and “lying” interviews in the lobby of a large London hotel. Just after we finished setting up the camera, the door swung open and in walked Sir Robin. His trademark thick-rimmed glasses and colorful bow tie made him instantly recognizable. As he sat down in front of the camera, he seemed slightly nervous that he was about to receive questions rather than ask them. I began the first of the two interviews, asking him to describe his favorite film. He explained that he had a great love for Gone With the Wind:
So, Sir Robin, what’s your favorite film?
Gone with the Wind.
And why’s that?
Oh, it’s, it, it’s a classic, great characters; great film star—Clark Gable; a great actress—Vivien Leigh. Very moving.
And who’s your favorite character in it?
Oh, Gable.
And how many times
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