Nathan J Gordon, William L Fleisher Read online

  asks. You lie, because the truth is unkind in this context. You reply, “Great! You’re really

  looking better. You’ll be out of here in no time,” as you think to yourself, “Carried by me

  and several of your other friends.” These lies are rationalized as “white” or ethically neces-

  sary lies. In this context, we all lie! Most are harmless lies that are actually necessary to our

  social interaction with other people. These lies are social conventions: they reduce interper-

  sonal friction and foster goodwill. Such lies do not usually pose a threat to our well-being,

  whether we are the tellers or receivers.

  The other category of deceit is the troublesome one – the intentionally harmful and self-

  serving lie. Fortunately, it is the one most open to detection. The process of socialization in

  which people are conditioned to feel guilt and fear detection and subsequent punishment

  when they tell serious lies produces observable reactions. In telling the lie, the liar is

  attempting to evade responsibility for an unethical, immoral, and/or illegal act. Moreover,

  the lie will likely defame or defraud someone. As a result the liar, affected by fear and guilt,

  has observable psychophysiological reactions.

  Once someone has made the decision to lie, there are two primary ways for him to pro-

  ceed: lying by omission or commission. Lying by omission is generally the method of

  choice. It is tacit, easier, and involves less risk because no invention is required. By denying

  or leaving out relevant information, the liar chooses the path that offers the least risk of

  detection, as he runs from the truth and makes no commitment to fabricated information.

  This person may rationalize that concealing information is not morally objectionable

  because he has not fabricated information, and therefore may experience less guilt having

  2. TRUTH AND LIES

  13

  chosen the path of passive deception. However, passive deceit usually contains some ele-

  ments of fabrication or evidence of missing information that a knowledgeable interviewer

  can detect and expose through detailed inquiry; this will force the liar to commit to inven-

  tion or fabrication, thus psychologically heightening the fear of detection. Lying by commis-

  sion, fabricating information, can be viewed as active deceit. This involves greater cognitive

  energy – commitment, invention, and defense – and the enhanced risk of contradicting

  prior information, or giving information that can later be proved to be false. The risk here

  is great. When asked a question, the suspect has two choices: tell the truth, or lie. If he

  chooses to tell the truth, it is easy, because the truth is free-flowing and requires very little

  mental energy. If he chooses to lie, he now is presented with numerous additional choices

  and concerns: how big a lie to tell, what to put in, what to leave out, contradicting prior

  inventions, punishment if caught, etc. It should be noted, this being the case, that the major-

  ity of what a deceptive suspect says is actually true.

  Consider the following, in which a person lies by telling the truth, but distorts the con-

  text by the manner in which he tells it. A man comes home late and his wife demands to

  know where he has been. He sarcastically replies, “Out with my girlfriend!” which is

  exactly where he was.

  Imagine a scenario where the previously mentioned man called home and told his wife

  that he would be working late. He has informed her he would take a break for dinner, then

  do some more work, and then come home. Instead of working until 5 P.M., he actually

  worked until 5:30 P.M. He then met his girlfriend, had dinner with her, stopped at a motel,

  returned to the office to pick up some papers, and then went home. He told his wife the

  truth. He worked late, stopped for dinner, later returned to the office, and then went home.

  He omitted certain vital details, thus lying by omission. Had he fabricated an explanation,

  that he had to stay late for a meeting, that would have involved active deceit, and a greater

  possibility of detection.

  A good interviewer must learn to sift through whatever truth there is in a clever liar’s

  story. The interviewer cannot be misled by a superficial reaction to the interviewee’s affect

  or tone. To sort among the various statements, the interviewer must focus on the compo-

  nents of the statement that indicate possible deception or deliberate omission of informa-

  tion. This sorting process is enabled by the understanding of nonverbal behavior and the

  assessment of unwitting verbal cues.

  It is a given that everyone being interviewed will feel a little apprehensive and nervous

  and cannot be counted on to respond disinterestedly: this is natural. Truthful people expe-

  rience some apprehension that the interviewer will be less than competent and thus accuse

  them of crimes they did not commit. Deceptive people are afraid that the interviewer will

  be competent and will discover that they do, in fact, bear some or all of the responsibility

  for the matter under investigation. James Matte identifies this as the innocent person’s “fear

  of error” versus the guilty person’s “hope of error” [1].

  To a great extent, the anxiety of the truthful interviewee can be moderated and the fear of

  the involved interviewee exaggerated by the initial impression the interviewer makes (Fig-

  ure 2.1). By appearing and acting as a professional, the interviewer has this dual effect on his interviewees. Close your eyes and imagine what a professional CEO of a major corporation looks like at work. If you are a male, picture a male, and if you are a female, picture a

  female. Pay particular attention to the attire and office.

  14

  2. TRUTH AND LIES

  A

  Interviewer

  Suspect

  B

  Suspect

  Interviewer

  FIGURE 2.1 Who would you believe is more competent?

  If you visualized a man, did he have on a T-shirt and shorts? Was he wearing a sport

  jacket and slacks? Did he wear a tie? Was he wearing a suit? If you selected a woman,

  did she have on slacks and a blouse? Chances are the man wore a suit and tie, and the

  woman wore a dress or suit. That is how most of us imagine a “professional” at work.

  You probably also visualized a neat desk and an office with professional-looking furniture.

  Thus, you have demonstrated that professionalism is at least initially conveyed through

  appearance and environment.

  How does one dress to look professional? Men should be dressed in suits. Generally the

  best colors are dark colors, such as blue, black, charcoal, and gray. Shirts should be clean

  and pressed. The professional male will almost always be wearing a white shirt, or perhaps

  a light blue shirt. Shirts of other colors should be left home. The tie should be conservative,

  and there should not be any visible tattoos, body piercings, earrings, or excessive jewelry.

  Footwear should be in good condition and well shined. Obviously the professional male

  has well groomed hair, as well as any mustache or beard. The professional woman will

  dress in a skirt suit, dress, or pants suit. As with the male, the colors should be dark. White

  blouses also do well for the female, and there should be no excessive decorations on it. The

  professional woman will not be wearing ostentatious jewelry. He
r hair will be neatly

  groomed, and her use of cosmetics and perfume will be minimal.

  Remember, every truthful suspect interviewed is afraid that the interviewer is incompe-

  tent and will accuse them of a crime they did not commit. Every deceptive suspect is afraid

  the interviewer is competent and will accuse them of the crime they did commit. Truthful

  suspects, who through appearance and surroundings perceive the interviewer to be compe-

  tent and objective, experience a reduction in their fear of being wrongly accused of involve-

  ment in a crime. Their fears will moderate, and their behavior will become less stressed,

  and thus more indicative of truthfulness, as the interview progresses. In contrast, deceptive

  suspects will be threatened by the appearance of a competent interviewer, who they per-

  ceive can identify them as being involved. Their fear of having their deception revealed will

  increase during the interview; thus, under heightened stress, they will exhibit even more

  SUMMARY

  15

  deceptive behavior. Of course, if the interviewer looks or acts incompetent, he will still have

  a dual effect. The truthful suspect’s fear of a mistake will increase, causing him to appear

  deceptive. There will also be a reduction in the deceptive suspect’s fear of being caught,

  and his behavior will appear more truthful.

  The interviewer’s demeanor is also extremely important. He must convey to the interviewee

  that he is an unbiased investigator, whose only client is the truth. If he appears to have already

  reached an opinion as to the interviewee’s involvement in the crime under investigation, it will

  cause the fear and anxiety of both the innocent and guilty suspects to increase.

  In addition to the importance of the initial impression the interviewer makes on the inter-

  viewee by appearance, demeanor, and the environment of the interview, there are certain

  techniques that can be used to psychologically enhance the interview process. For example,

  when the interviewee comes into the room, the interviewer can gain rapport by paralleling

  the interviewee’s nonverbal behavior, identifying his neurolinguistic mode of preference,

  and/or finding and discussing something held in common with the interviewee before

  beginning the assessment. These contextual issues are discussed in subsequent chapters.

  SUMMARY

  • An untruth may be caused by many things, other than a deliberate attempt of deception.

  • A lie is defined as the deliberate communication to another, verbally, written (i.e., a bad

  check), or by gesture (i.e., a fake smile), of something that the communicator knows or

  suspects is not the case; or the presentation or omission of information, with the

  deliberate intent to deceive and mislead someone who is requesting the truth.

  • There are many types of lies. As forensic interviewers, we are interested in lies told by a

  suspect in an attempt to escape punishment for deviant acts committed.

  • Every suspect, truthful and untruthful, will enter the interview in an elevated emotional

  state due to fear. Truthful suspects fear they will be falsely accused of a crime they did

  not commit by an incompetent interviewer. Untruthful suspects fear they will be accused

  of a crime they did commit by a competent interviewer.

  • If the interviewer is perceived as competent, the truthful suspect’s fear will begin to

  dissipate as the interview progresses, and the untruthful suspect’s fear will increase,

  resulting in an increase of deceptive leakage behavior.

  Reference

  [1] J.A. Matte, Forensic Psychophysiology: Using the Polygraph, JAM Publications, Williamsville, NY, 1996.

  C H A P T E R

  3

  Psychophysiological Basis of the

  Forensic Assessment

  The determination of where truth can be found, and the detection of lies, is a discipline

  based on scientific principles. These scientific principles are grounded in the data derived

  from research findings in physiology and psychology. Therefore, it is extremely important

  that a good interviewer understand those physiological and psychological processes that

  produce the manifestations that allow for an accurate assessment of truth or deception.

  The key physiological source of these manifestations is found in the body’s autonomic

  nervous system, in a mechanism commonly called the “fight or flight” response. This

  psychophysiological response occurs when an individual consciously or unconsciously

  perceives a threat to his immediate well-being. This response involves a complex and spe-

  cific range of physiological changes occurring spontaneously, which prepare the individual

  to either stand and fight, or flee the threat. A less well-entrenched phenomenon related to

  this mechanism has been identified as the “freeze/hide” syndrome [1]. The latter occurs

  in those circumstances when the threatened individual is too young, too weak, or too psy-

  chologically disempowered to fight or flee. Although less frequently considered, there is as

  sound a basis for “freeze/hide” as there is for “fight/flight.”

  Consider what threats primitive humans faced from other species. Other than a snake,

  what predators could he outfight or outrun? None! Therefore, man’s most likely survival

  response was to freeze and hope the predator did not see him, like a deer caught in head-

  lights. Today, under circumstances where an individual cannot flee and perceives that

  fighting will be ineffectual, hiding as a means of avoiding confrontation with an over-

  whelming force is instinctual. In the tragic circumstances of a house fire, young children

  who cannot escape are almost always found hiding under a bed or in a closet. The child

  lacking the strength to fight or the experience to flee is left with the only natural option

  for the weak or inexperienced: to “hide” from the threat. Think back to when you were a

  child, lying in bed with the thought that something or someone was going to get you. What

  did you do? Most likely you “hid” under the covers!

  These same options apply to any threat, including the threat of being exposed. Thus, the

  guilty suspect of a criminal investigation being interviewed by a law enforcement officer

  experiences the threat of being detected, as real and vital a threat as any other. This suspect

  Effective Interviewing and Interrogation Techniques

  17

  # 2011, Elsevier Ltd.

  18

  3. PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL BASIS OF THE FORENSIC ASSESSMENT

  has these same three instinctual options: fight, flee, or freeze/hide. It is the conflict among

  these evolutionary drives and the psychological reality of his situation that will create the

  nonverbal and verbal indicators that the trained interviewer reads and interprets as signs

  of a response to a threat. In this case the threat is that of being exposed as the culprit,

  and the resultant psychophysiological response can be read as deception.

  To better understand the “fight or flight” response, consider the following stimuli and

  responses. It’s late at night, and you are walking down the street alone in a less than desir-

  able, unfamiliar neighborhood. Your senses are heightened, and you are, as one might expect,

  apprehensive and nervous. As you walk by an alley, a person appears out of the shadows

  and shouts, “Hey, you!” You quickly
jump back. Your heart begins to beat faster, and your

  mouth becomes dry. The digestion of your dinner stops as the blood needed for this function

  is redirected from your digestive organs to the large muscles in your legs, back, and arms and

  to your brain. This causes a sensation of “butterflies” in your stomach. Your pupils dilate to

  admit more light and also to give you a deeper field of vision. You get goose bumps on your

  arms, caused by piloerection (hair standing erect), and your breathing increases as you pre-

  pare to meet the threat. Your senses of hearing and smell are also enhanced. These are all

  instinctual responses, easily observable and almost impossible to suppress.

  Suddenly, the stranger asks, “Do you have a match?” You answer, “No,” and quickly

  walk away. As you turn the corner, you see a police officer walking his beat near your car.

  You take a few deep breaths and give an audible sigh of relief, and your body returns to

  its prethreat norm. What you have experienced in this scenario is an example of the body’s

  fight/flight mechanism and is fully explainable in scientific psychophysiological terms.

  Physiologists have found that one of the requirements for any living organism’s survival

  is to maintain an ideal internal environment free of distress or threat. This is known as

  homeostasis. In humans this homeostatic condition is made possible by the maintenance

  of normal physiological functions by the body’s unique nervous systems:

  1. The central nervous system (CNS) consists of the brain and spinal cord.

  2. All other nerve pathways are within the peripheral nervous system, which itself

  separates into the somatic nervous system and the autonomic nervous system (ANS).

  (a) The somatic nervous system is involved with voluntary control over your skeletal

  muscles. For example, you control and direct the movement of your arms and hands

  with your skeletal muscles through your somatic nervous system.

  (b) The autonomic nervous system, as previously discussed, controls those involuntary

  physiological functions of the body and has considerable psychological impact as

  well. The autonomic nervous system controls smooth muscles, glands, and organs