The Lying Experiment

Here is a Topic Suggestion from Johanna that I think you’ll all enjoy! Thanks, Johanna.

Clapper Board

Prof Wiseman, the author of Quirkology (which I’m fairly certain I saw you mention on your blog at some point, so I think you’re familiar with it) interviewed a man and had him lie once and tell the truth once. Actually, he did it several times, but this is more recent and wasn’t discussed in the book. The videos are posted here.

I’m sure you can tell the difference quite easily, but it’s a fun and interesting little experiment and a nice illustration of truth vs. lie in a more controlled setting. With most of the people you discuss on your blog, we only get to see the people tell it one way. This way, we get to see the same question answered truthfully and falsely. Just thought you might find it interesting!

NPR: “Foolproof Test for Catching Liars Still Elusive”

Early Polygraph Demonstration

Last week, I took a poll on what people thought about the polygraph machine. Here is an interesting article that talks further about it that I thought you might find interesting: Foolproof Test for Catching Liars Still Elusive

I voting results can be accessed tomorrow and will be displayed when poll closes in the future.

Story of the Danish Woman Seeking Father

The video you saw of “Karen and August” is actually a hoax. It was a government ad by VisitDenmark, are you ready, to promote tourism. I can’t help but find this funny. What were these people thinking?

In the end, I think they realized they might get the wrong kind of tourists, and decided to pull the ad, but they have had a difficult time doing so. It keeps popping up on YouTube repeatedly. No surprise there.

For those of you who have interest, and wondered if the baby is hers, according to this website, it is not. You can read about that here.

There are, however, many clues to deceit in this video.

Read moreI thought it was hilarious how “Karen” (whose real name is reported as Ditte Arnth Jorgensen) totally forgets her baby’s name, and in the process laughs about it. Her laugh was the second red flag for me. I would expect her to be nervous about truly trying to find the father, but there were absolutely no sign of nerves.

Then she says about the baby, “His name is August. Yeah.” The “yeah” is indicative of deception that I have never seen written about anywhere. People who are deceptive often verbally confirm their own story, as she does here. It’s like they are thinking through what they just said, and then, without a realizing it, they say “yeah” as if they are convincing themselves. Does that make sense? She does this four or five times in this video.

“Karen” also looks like she is going to break out laughing in the beginning of this video, which doesn’t fit with the scenario. If a woman was really going to stick herself out there to do this, I would think she would really want to find the father, and wouldn’t find the situation laughable. With that, she would likely be nervous, as she would be truly hoping to do this successfully, and get the answers she so craves. I did wonder, for a second, if an honest psychopath could do this, but in the end, there were too many clues to even consider it.

I love when “Karen” says, “I was on my way home and…” At this point, she makes a question face. I don’t know how to say it any other way. Her face makes an expression, as if she is questioning what she is saying. This is another red flag. She also says, “I think you lost your friends.” She thinks? It becomes very apparent this woman doesn’t know any details whatsoever, which of course, is another red flag. Even drunk people remember some detail before they pass out.

Notice how she also swallows awkwardly? While this is not always a clue to deceit, when I see it amongst many other clues, it is supportive.

Watch her shoulder shrug when she says, “I don’t remember where you are from, or…. yeah.” I love that sentence! Two more indications of deception: a shoulder shrug and a verbal confirmation.

Then she says, “I don’t even remember your name.”

What woman on earth would be willing to put herself out there and say this? This was mind-boggling. Even if casual sex is more acceptable in Denmark, most people don’t like to admit, especially women, they were so drunk out of their mind they couldn’t remember someone’s name with whom they were intimate! Most societies have less than pleasant names for people like this, and I am sure the Danes are not exception. I laughed when I watched this, because again, I wondered if a psychopath who is being honest might do this, but of course, that was out of the question by this point.

After she says she doesn’t remember his name, she says that she does remember that they talked about Denmark. This is absolutely hilarious. Only “Denmark” sticks out with all the details this night? The person who created this video doesn’t understand the human mind.

People remember the most detail when they have an association or a connection to something. Naturally, emotions will elicit the broadest recollections of past memories. So for this woman to say that Denmark was more memorable than the guy’s name, a guy who fathered her child, is just comical.

I have to say “Karen” did quite well when she says she is not crazy or obsessive. She managed to get that smile off her face and be more serious, but then she says, “I feel I owe it to both you and him. Yeah.” Another verbal confirmation that makes no sense unless she is trying to convince herself of her story.

She continues, “I haven’t been with anyone else since that night. Yeah. Just so you know that.” There is another “yeah”, but more inconsistent would be the claim to her actions. If she is the type of woman who enjoys casual sex and drinking to the point of not remembering anything, it would be very unlikely she would have abstained from sex or drinking for a year and a half. That in and of itself makes her statement highly unlikely, even if everything else turned out to be true, which we know it is not.

I feel sorry for the people who created this. The backlash from this isn’t likely to go away any time soon.

* While there are many signs to deception, don’t forget, I believe there is not one clue that is reliable to predict deception in every case. Deception detection requires a multifaceted approach. If you show me a trait you think only liars do, I can be confident I can find you an honest person doing the same thing, so just be cautious!

Police Dupe Liar

This video is fascinating…



Thanks to Karen for this video link!

My Thoughts: Rifqa Bary

When I watch Rifqa Bary in the first few seconds of this video, her behavior changes from a happy “Hi” to this supposedly scared young girl. These two behaviors are very contradictory and my first red flag. It’s as if Rifqa didn’t notice the camera and when she did, she slinks down into an act.

When the reporter asks Rifqa what is going on, Rifqa’s demeanor changes again. Notice how she immediately looks down as she starts talking, “Well, ah…I’m a Christian and uh, my parents are Muslim, they’re extremely devout…”

Read moreNotice she shows no sign or indication of fear at all? She doesn’t show any signs or indication of stress either at this point. As a matter of fact, she continually flashes smiles throughout this video and even breaks down at one point in laughter when she says, “…I don’t know if you know about honor killing, but this faith, that the…you guys don’t understand…”.

When you are scared out of your mind that someone might kill you, you don’t smile. It’s a complete contradiction. Also, notice how when she talks and gets rolling, she isn’t scared at all as the man in the video first said? She rather seems to enjoy the attention at times.

When Rifqa says, as she buries her face in the man’s chest standing next to her, “They don’t understand”, her voice is indicative of a classic whine. There are no tears, and she is not crying, yet her shoulders shake as if she is. The actual act of crying would cause Rifqa body to shake, yet she isn’t crying. There are absolutely no tears whatsoever. One plus one doesn’t equal two here. Notice how Rifqa doesn’t want you to see her face when she pouts like this? Has she been called out on her “crying episodes” before?

In the middle of her crying, she breaks out into a laugh again when she says, “I can’t go back to Ohio.” She holds back laughter just after this as well.

Notice how she rambles on? When people are deathly afraid, they typically shut down. It’s not common for people to ramble in a state of true deep fear–especially fear that one’s life is stake. It’s notably odd here. I would agree that she is nervous here, but that could be for a variety other of reasons.

I find it fascinating that she put her beliefs on Facebook, if she truly believed such knowledge could cause her father to kill her. She was willing to go public on Facebook without fear of being killed? This again is a complete contradiction. And now she seems to think if she stays in Florida that she will be safe? If her father “has to kill her”, would she be safe anywhere?

I find it interesting how she says her father “was about to me beat me.” Obviously, he didn’t lay a hand on her, but it sure makes him sound bad doesn’t it?

Rifqa says, “I snuck out to Christian prayer meetings in fear of my life.” Does this make any sense? If she is afraid for her life, why would she do this now? Ironically, if you listen, Rifqa tells us her dad knew about her religious views for some time, because supposedly he enrolled her in “class after class after class” hoping to convert her back to Islam. When you realize her dad knew about this for some time, and Rifqa refused to respect her dad’s wishes, you have question, is this fear of religious persecution or a battle of the wills between a teenage daughter and her father? It’s obvious she knew her dad disapproved and she continued anyway. Where was her fear of being killed then? What caused her to change?

Notice how Rifqa’s behavior is very different as she tells us what I suspect are true facts about how she hitch-hiked to a bus station. Rifqa says, “I got a ticket to Florida because I had met them through a prayer (unintelligible) on Facebook…” [I’m curious, who bought that ticket– the Florida pastor?]Notice how Rifqa makes normal eye contact when she says that? When she gives these details, her demeanor changes a 180 degrees. That’s what makes her other behavior even more outstanding.

Look at her smile when she says, “Imagine the honor in killing me.”

I also noticed how when she says either they will kill her or send her to an asylum, when she says “asylum” the first time, she says it as a question. We can’t see her face, but it appears she is looking for confirmation from the man in front of her, who is being represented as an expert, if it is, in fact, an asylum. She then repeats the word “asylum” again as a statement. This suggests that her dad didn’t tell her this, it is these men in her life (standing beside her and in front of her now), who brought her to Florida, that likely introduced her to some aspects of this concept. That’s scary and indicative of brainwashing!

The reporter then says, “Do you really think this is true or just a threat?” Watch Rifqa smile and laugh nervously. Where is her fear?? Notice she doesn’t answer the question.

Rifqa starts her whine again, “I am one of hundreds.” She talks faster and tries to get more convincing, but she is lacking any emotional support to her claims. She continually laughs over and over again, and worse she keeps looking to this man off camera in front of her, who is supposedly knowledgeable on this for support. If she truly believed this, should wouldn’t need his affirmation, but she keeps visually seeking it.

I personally do not believe Rifqa is being sincere with us. I also question the motives of the people who are supposedly “helping her”. Regardless of all of this, I do think it is prudent an investigation take place to ensure all appropriate steps are taken as a precaution, because “honor killings” are real and do go on in the world, though it is rare in the U.S. (though have occured).

I hope for Rifqa’s sake, too, that she is simply crying wolf.