Don't Lie to Me: The Impact of Deception on Vocalic and Linguistic Synchrony

Abstract

Most efforts at improving deception detection involve either the examination of a suspect's behavioral and physiological cues or are aimed at improving the ability of an interviewer to distinguish between truth and deception. The research presented here employs a dyadic approach to deception detection. This is a relatively novel method which utilizes the complex interplay and mutual influence between the deceiver and the receiver by examining the relationship between interactional synchrony and deception. This field experiment uses criminal interviews of both guilty (deceptive) and innocent (truthful) suspects to explore the impact of deception on different measures of vocalic and linguistic synchrony. Preliminary results indicate that deceivers may strategically synchronize to the interviewer in an attempt to allay suspicion.