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Reading the Signs of Deception


Reading the Signs of Deception

Chapter 2: How to Detect Deception in Investigation Interviews

Posted by Dawn Lomer on July 25th, 2011

Chapter 1: History of Detecting Deception

Chapter 2: Reading the Signs of Deception

Humans learn to deceive at a very early age, grasping the concept at around 18 months and mastering it by the time we are 36 months old. With that kind of on-the-job training, it’s not surprising that many of us are adept at lying and that detecting deception is a difficult skill to acquire.

An investigator requires finely honed powers of observation in order to notice changes in the language and demeanor of interview subjects. Just as importantly, you must be able to articulate the clues that cause you to conclude that someone is being deceptive.

Having a feeling that someone isn’t telling the truth isn’t good enough. You may be right, but you need to be able to explain why.

Investigators should never react to statements made by an interviewee. You should remain non-judgmental, fair, objective and emotionless. Keep in mind that while you are observing verbal, non-verbal and physical actions of the subject, you could also be sending messages through your own verbal, non-verbal and physical actions.

Chapter 3: Setting a Baseline

Chapter 4: Forms of Deception

Chapter 5: Language Indicators of Deception

Chapter 6: The Role of Anxiety in Deception

Chapter 7: Body Language

Chapter 8: How to Improve your Deception Detection Skills

Dawn Lomer
Dawn Lomer

Manager of Communications

Dawn Lomer is the Manager of Communications at i-Sight (now Case IQ) Software and a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE). She writes about topics related to workplace investigations, ethics and compliance, data security and e-discovery, and hosts i-Sight (now Case IQ) webinars.