Blinking and lying

[Kaotic_Newtral]

Dopers,

 I remember quite a while back that there was a link between the number of times you blink...and the truths you're telling.  I don't want to make this into ANY kind of political debate but I noticed that GWB was blinking like nobody's business towards the end of the program.  Is there any truth to the rumor I've heard?

-K

[Doctor_Jackson]

If it were only that easy, KB, none of us would ever be taken in by a fib. I tend to blink more when I’m tired. Your theory would peg me as lying when in reality I just got to bed too late the night before.

Body language has been studied ad infinitum. The problem is that for every 100 studies done, 101 conclusions are reached. For example, a quick Google search turned up sites that say lack of eye contact is an indicator of lying. OTOH, studies have shown that one group of people who excel at making sincere eye contact is - are you ready? - pathological liars.

The study of body language is a worthwhile undertaking. By appropriately interpreting body movements and postures you can get good clues to things like: when people are really listening, when they’re interested in what you’re saying, whether they’re defensive or open, etc. But bear in mind that the reading of body language is much more art than science, and lying is not something that can be identified with any degree of certainty.

[Jurph]

Add to that the vagaries of stage fright, the stress of being a Senator or President, the bright lights, the President’s known habit of getting to bed early, and the pressure to not rub or pick at one’s face while on camera, and you’re not going to get anything conclusive.

[Khadaji]

I read an article once regarding how to tell if a person were lying or not. Many of the mannerisms described as lying are ones I do everyday, I can’t remember them all, but here were two.

1. Pauses before speaking to gather his thoughts, liars are using the time to make their lie more credible.
2. Touches mouth when speaking

I do both.

I dunno, but I don’t put any stock to such things.

[ParentalAdvisory]

@Khadaji

I dunno, but I don’t put any stock to such things.

Agreed.

[Kythereia]

From So you wanna lie persuasively? on SoYouWanna.com (the original site has loads of popups, but it’s well worth a visit):

Many years of research have proven one thing: it’s incredibly difficult to know if someone is lying unless you have prior exposure to his or her baseline behavior. What is a baseline? It’s the back of the box on a tennis court. What is baseline behavior? It is how you act when you’re not lying. You know, the way you normally act, the way you talk and behave when you’re having a casual conversation in which no attempt at deception is taking place.

The greater the number of interactions that the target of the lie (we’ll use a “he” in this example) has had with you, the more familiar he will be with your baseline behavior. Because he knows how you usually act, he’ll press you on the veracity of your statements, and be more likely ultimately to figure out that you lied. This is why the old maxim: “a liar never looks you straight in the eye” is bull. If the person doesn’t usually look people in the eye as part of his normal non-lying behavior, he very may well look you in the eye when he IS lying. (This would be a change from his baseline behavior.) Lots of other little clues that all of the fogies down at Shady Pines have provided (e.g., liars talk fast, their eyes dart around, or clear their throats a lot) are also pretty much useless for this reason; if the old folks really knew how to spot a liar, they wouldn’t get ripped off in those crazy phone scams all the time. It doesn’t matter what someone does when (s)he lies, it only matters if such behavior is different from how she or he normally acts.