Scientists find a better way to spot a liar

Eye contact, confidence and well-thought out answers are indicators of someone lying. Experts at the University of Michigan also claim that facial grimace, too much hand gestures and the use of fillers are also signals given out by untruthful people.

According to The Telegraph, previous studies claimed that giving a hesitant answer and avoiding eye contact are foolproof signs of lying. However, the new study by researchers from the University of Michigan found that the contrary is true and more accurate. The researchers created a software that analysed the speaker's’ words and gestures from 120 clips showing testimonies of defendants and witnesses in court hearings.

"In laboratory experiments, it's difficult to create a setting that motivates people to truly lie. The stakes are not high enough," lead researcher Rada Mihalcea said. "We can offer a reward if people can lie well--pay them to convince another person that something false is true. But in the real world there is true motivation to deceive."

Unlike a polygraph, the software does not need to touch the subject to work. It is reportedly accurate 75 percent of the time, as opposed to humans who can only identify a lie accurately 50 percent of the time.

Based on the study's findings, people who lied were three times more likely to frown or grimace instead of maintaining a relaxed face. Liars also looked straight at the questioner and used hand gestures and words that distance themselves from the proceedings such as "he" or "she" rather than "I" and "we."

“There are clues that humans give naturally when they are being deceptive, but we're not paying close enough attention to pick them up,” Mihalcea said. “We’re not counting how many times a person says 'I' or looks up. We're focusing on a higher level of communication."

The researchers are planning to add heart rate, respiratory rate and changes in body temperature in the software to make it more accurate. This would enable lie detection to be faster and more convenient.

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