Are Agatha, Dashiell, and Arthur alive? Assessing the link between hand movements and false intentions

Tomás Sanches Baêna

Abstract

Background: With the ever-increasing political, ideological and social tension which followed 9/11, crime prevention stands as an issue of major relevance. The development of the ability to accurately detect statements of false intent is of great societal and legal value. It could aid intelligence services in preventing crimes (e.g., terrorist threats) and security services in reinforcing their protocols (e.g., airport security checks, parole hearings, and border control).

Goals: To examine the associations between hand movements and false intentions in adults.

Methods: Using a laboratory-based variation of the ‘Portsmouth design’, 23 students completed a questionnaire about their intentions to travel in the near future. Participants with a planned trip were placed in the truth tellers’ condition (n = 12). Those who did not have a planned trip were placed in the liars’ condition (n = 11). Based on the main theoretical approaches, three hypotheses were proposed. Hypothesis 1 advocated a decrease in the three categories of illustrators (movements interconnected to speech that serve to illustrate what is being verbally said) in liars, as compared to the truth tellers. Hypothesis 2 also suggested a decrease in the category of subtle hand and finger movements in the lying condition, comparatively with the truth condition. Finally, hypothesis 3 proposed a lack of significant differences between liars and truth-tellers in the five categories of self-adaptors (movements in which one part of the body does something to another body part, such as scratching the ear or squeezing the hands).

Results: Hypothesis 1 was partially supported. The general and the unilateral categories of illustrators decreased in the case of the liars, as compared to the truth tellers; however, the bilateral category of illustrators slightly increased in the lying condition, in comparison with truth telling. Hypotheses 2 and 3 were fully supported. 

Discussion: Apart from the slight increase of bilateral illustrators in the case of the liars, all the results are in accordance with the empirical findings on deception research about past events. This similarity is noteworthy, considering the cognitive differences between lies about past events and lies about future events.

Keywords

hand movements; intention; deception; cognitive load;

Full Text:

View article

References

Alibali, M. W., Kita, S., & Young, A. J. (2000). Gesture and the process of speech production: We think, therefore we gesture. Language and Cognitive Processes, 15(6), 593–613. doi: 10.1080/016909600750040571

Bavelas, J. B., Chovil, N., Lawrie, D. A., & Wade, A. (1992). Interactive gestures. Discourse Processes, 15(4), 469–489. doi: 10.1080/01638539209544823

Blair, J. P., Levine, T. R., & Shaw, A. S. (2010). Content in context improves deception detection accuracy. Human Communication Research, 36, 423–442. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2958.2010.01382.x

Buckley, J. P. (2012). Detection of deception researchers need to collaborate with experienced practitioners. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 1, 126–127. doi: 10.1016/j.jarmac.2012.04.002

Buller, D. B., & Burgoon, J. K. (1996). Interpersonal deception theory. Communication Theory, 6(3), 203–242. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2885.1996.tb00127.x

Bury, J. B. (1913/2015). A history of freedom of thought: The power of imagination. North Charleston, SC: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform.

Caso, L., Maricchiolo, F., Bonaiuto, M., Vrij, A., & Mann, S. (2006). The impact of deception and suspicion on different hand movements. Journal of Nonverbal Behaviour, 30(6), 1–19. doi: 10.1007/s10919-005-0001-z

Chartrand, T. L., & Bargh, J. A. (1999). The chameleon effect: The perception behavior link and social interaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76(6), 893–910. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.76.6.893

Cochet, H., & Byrne, R. W. (2013). Evolutionary origins of human handedness: Evaluating contrasting hypotheses. Animal Cognition, 16(4), 531–542. doi: 10.1007/s10071-013-0626-y

Cohen, D., Geoffrey Beattie, G., & Shovelton, H. (2010). Nonverbal indicators of deception: How iconic gestures reveal thoughts that cannot be suppressed. Semiotica, 182(1/4), 133–174. doi 10.1515/semi.2010.055

D’ Argembeau, A., & Van der Linden, M. (2004). Phenomenal characteristics associated with projecting oneself back into the past and forward into the future: Influence of valence and temporal distance. Consciousness and Cognition, 13(4), 844–58. doi: 10.1016/j.concog.2004.07.007

DePaulo, B. M., Kashy, D. A., Kirkendol, S. E., Wyer, M. M., & Epstein, J. A. (1996). Lying in everyday life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70(5), 979–995. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.70.5.979

DePaulo, B. M., Lindsay, J. L., Malone, B. E., Muhlenbruck, L., Charlton, K., & Cooper, H. (2003). Cues to deception. Psychological Bulletin, 129(1), 74–118. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.129.1.74

Dick, P. K. (1956/2002). The minority report. London: Gollancz.

Ekman, P. (1977). Biological and cultural contributions to body and facial movement. In J. Blacking (Ed.), The anthropology of the body (pp. 39–84). London: Academic Press.

Ekman, P. (1985). Telling lies: Clues to deceit in the marketplace, politics and marriage. New York: W. W. Norton (Reprinted in 1992 and 2001).

Ekman, P. (1989). Why lies fail and what behaviors betray a lie. In J. C. Yuille (Ed.), Credibility assessment (pp. 71–82). Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Kluwer.

Ekman, P. (2003). Darwin, deception, and facial expression. Annals of the New York Academy of Science, 1000, 205–221. doi: 10.1196/annals.1280.010

Ekman, P., & Friesen, W. V. (1969a). The repertoire of nonverbal behavior: Categories, origins, usage, and coding. Semiotica, 1, 49–98. doi: 10.1515/semi.1969.1.1.49

Ekman, P., & Friesen, W. V. (1969b). Nonverbal leakage and clues to deception. Psychiatry, 32(1), 88–106. doi: 10.1080/00332747.1969.11023575

Ekman, P., & Friesen, W. V. (1972). Hand movements. Journal of Communication, 22(4), 353–374. doi: 10.1111/j.1460-2466.1972.tb00163.x

Ekman, P., & Friesen, W. V. (1974). Nonverbal behavior and psychopathology. In R. J. Friedman & M. M. Katz (Eds.), The psychology of depression: Contemporary theory and research (pp. 203–232). Washington D.C.: J. Winston & Sons.

Evans, J. R., Michael, S. W., Meissner, C. A., & Brandon, S. E. (2013). Validating a new assessment method for deception detection: Introducing a psychologically based credibility assessment tool. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 2, 33–41. doi: 10.1016/j.jarmac.2013.02.002

Fenn, E., McGuire, M., Langben, S., & Blandón-Gitlin, I. (2015). A reverse order interview does not aid deception detection regarding intentions. Frontiers in Psychology, 6(1298), 1–12. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01298

Feyereisen, P. (1983). Manual activity during speaking in aphasic subjects. International Journal of Psychology, 18, 545–556. doi:10.1080/00207598308247500

Foundas, A. L., Macauley, B. L., Raymer, A. M., Maher, L. M., Heilman, K. M., & Rothi, L. J. (1995). Gesture laterality in aphasic and apraxic stroke patients. Brain and Cognition, 29(2), 204–213. doi: 10.1006/brcg.1995.1277

Frank, M. G., & Ekman, P. (1993). Not all smiles are created equal: The differences between enjoyment and nonenjoyment smiles. Humor, 6(1), 9–26. doi: 10.1515/humr.1993.6.1.9

Freedman, N., Blass, T., Rifkin, A., & Quitkin, F. (1973). Body movements and the verbal encoding of aggressive affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 26, 72–85. doi: 10.1037/h0034220

Friesen, W. V., & Ekman, P. (1973). Classification of hand activity. Unpublished manuscript.

Friesen, W. V., Ekman, P., & Wallbott, H. (1979). Measuring hand movements. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 4(2), 97–112. doi: 10.1007/BF01006354

Gamboz, N., Brandimonte, M. A., & De Vito, S. (2010). The role of past in the simulation of autobiographical future episodes. Experimental Psychology, 57(6), 419–428. doi: 10.1027/1618-3169/a000052.

Goldin-Meadow, S. (2006). Nonverbal communication: The hand’s role in talking and thinking. In W. Damon, R. M. Lerner, D. Kuhn & R. S. Siegler (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology, volume 2: Cognition, perception and language, 6th edition (pp. 336–369). Chichester: John Wiley and Sons.

Graham, J. A., & Argyle, M. (1975). A cross-cultural study of the communication of extra-verbal meaning by gestures. International Journal of Psychology, 10(1), 57–67. doi: 10.1080/00207597508247319

Granhag, P. A. (2010). On the psycho-legal study of true and false intentions: Dangerous waters and some stepping stones. The Open Criminology Journal, 3(2), 37–43. doi: 10.2174/1874917801003020037

Granhag, P. A., & Mac Giolla, E. (2014). Preventing future crimes: Identifying markers of true and false intent. European Psychologist, 19(3), 195–206. doi: 10.1027/1016-9040/a000202

Harrigan, J. A., Kues, J. R., Steffen, J. J., & Rosenthal, R. (1987). Self-touching and impressions of others. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 13, 497–512.

Harrigan, J. A., Kues, J. R., & Weber, J. G. (1986a). Impressions of hand movements: Self-touching and gestures. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 63, 503–16.

Harrigan, J. A., Weber, J. G., & Kues, J. R. (1986b). Attributions of self-touching performed in spontaneous and posed modes. Journal of Clinical and Social Psychology, 4, 433–446.

Hartwig, M., & Bond, C. F. (2011). Why do lie-catchers fail? A lens model meta-analysis of human lie judgments. Psychological Bulletin, 137, 643–659. doi: 10.1037/a0023589.

Hartwig, M., & Bond, C. F. (2014). Lie detection from multiple cues: A meta-analysis. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 28, 661–676. doi: 10.1002/acp.3052

Hillman, J., Vrij, A., & Mann, S. (2012). Um … they were wearing …: The effect of deception on specific hand gestures. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 17(2), 336–345. doi: 10.1111/j.2044-8333.2011.02014.x

Jupe, L. M., Leal, S., Vrij, A., & Nahari, G. (2017). Applying the verifiability approach in an international airport setting. Psychology, Crime & Law, 23(8), 812–825 doi: 10.1080/10683 16X.2017.1327584

Kendon, A. (1980). Gesticulation and speech: Two aspects of the process of utterance. In M. R. Key (Ed.), Relationship of verbal and nonverbal communication (pp. 207–28). The Hague: Mouton.

Kendon, A. (1994). Do gestures communicate? A review. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 27(3), 175–200. doi: 10.1207/s15327973rlsi2703_2

Krauss, R. M. (1998). Why do we gesture when we speak? Current Directions in Psychological Science, 7(2), 54–60. doi:10.111/1467-8721.ep13175642

Krauss, R. M., Chen, Y., & Chawla, P. (1996). Nonverbal behavior and nonverbal communication: What do conversational hand gestures tell us? In M. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (pp. 389-450). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

Leal, S., Vrij, A., Mann, S., & Fisher, R. P. (2010). Detecting true and false opinions: The devil’s advocate approach has a lie detection aid. Acta Psychologica, 134, 323–329. doi: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2010.03.005

Mac Giolla, E. (2016). Towards a theory of true and false intentions. (Doctoral thesis, Department of Psychology, University of Gothenburg, Sweden), Retrieved from https://gupea.ub.gu.se/handle/2077/43237

Mac Giolla, E., Granhag, P. A., & Vrij, A. (2015). Discriminating between true and false intentions. In P. A. Granhag, A. Vrij & B. Verschuere (Eds.), Detecting deception: Current challenges and cognitive approaches (pp. 155–173). Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.

Mäki-Marttunen, V., Villarreal, M., & Leiguarda, R. C. (2014). Lateralization of brain activity during motor planning of proximal and distal gestures. Behavioural Brain Research, 272, 226–237. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2014.06.055

Malone, B. E., & DePaulo, B. M. (2001). Measuring sensitivity to deception. In J. A. Hall & F. J. Bernieri (Eds.), Interpersonal sensitivity: Theory and measurement (pp. 103–124). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Mann, S., Vrij, A., & Bull, R. (2002). Suspects, lies and videotape: An analysis of authentic high-stakes liars. Law and Human Behavior, 26(3), 365–376. doi: 10.1023/A:1015332606792

Mann, S., Vrij, A., Leal, S., Granhag, P. A., Warmelink, L., & Forrester, D. (2012a). Windows to the soul? Deliberate eye contact as a cue to deceit. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 36,(3), 205–215. doi: 10.1007/s10919-012-0132-y

Mann, S., Vrij, A., Nasholm, E., Warmelink, L., Leal, S., & Forrester, D. (2012b). The direction of deception: Neurolinguistic programming as a lie detection tool. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, 27(2), 160–166. doi: 10.1007/s11896-011-9097-8

McCulloch, J., & Pickering, S. (2010). Future threat: Pre-crime, state terror, and dystopia in the 21st century. Criminal Justice Matters, 81(1), 32–33. doi: 10.1080/09627251 .2010.505400

McCulloch, J., & Wilson, D. (2016). Pre-crime: Pre-emption, precaution and the future. London: Routledge.

McNeill, D. (1992). Hand and mind: What gestures reveal about thought. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Miller, G. R., & Stiff, J. B. (1993). Deceptive communication. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Mintzlaff, V., Carney, D., & Harrigan, J. A. (1999). The link between defensiveness and nonverbal behavior: The hands have it. Paper presented at the meeting of the American Psychological Society, Denver, CO.

Mumford, K. H., & Kita, S. (2016). At 10–12 months, pointing gesture handedness predicts the size of receptive vocabularies. Infancy, 21(6), 751–765. doi: 10.1111/infa.12138

Myers, A., & Hansen, C. (2012). Experimental psychology, 7th edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Orbell, S., & Sheeran, P. (1998) ‘Inclined abstainers’: A problem for predicting health-related behaviour. British Journal of Social Psychology, 37(2), 151–166. doi: 10.1111/j.2044-8309.1998.tb01162.x

Rauscher, F. H., Krauss, R. M., & Chen, Y. (1996). Gesture, speech and lexical access: The role of lexical movements in speech production. Psychological Science, 7(4), 226–231. doi: 10.111/j.1467-9280.1996.tb00364.x

Rogers, W. T. (1978). The contribution of kinesic illustrators toward the comprehension of verbal behaviors within utterances. Human Communication Research, 5(1), 54–62. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2958.1978.tb00622.x

Riseborough, M. G. (1981). Physiographic gestures as decoding facilitators: Three experiments exploring a neglected facet of communication. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 5(3), 172–183. doi: 10.1007/BF00986134

Schacter, D. L., & Addis, R. D. (2007). The cognitive neuroscience of constructive memory: Remembering the past and imaging the future. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, 362, 773–786. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2007.2087

Schacter, D. L., Addis, D. R., & Buckner, R. L. (2008). Episodic simulation of future events: Concepts, data and applications. Annals of New York Academy of Sciences, 1124(1), 39–60. doi: 10.1196/annals.1440.001

Schegloff, E. (1984). On some gestures’ relation to talk. In J. M. Atkinson & J. Heritage (Eds.), Structures of social action (pp. 266–295). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Sheeran, P. (2002). Intention-behavior relations: A conceptual and empirical review. European Review of Social Psychology, 12, 1-36. doi: 10.1080/14792772143 000003

Szpunar, K. K. (2010). Episodic future thought: An emerging concept. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 5(2), 142–162. doi: 10.1177/1745691610362350

UDHR drafting committee (1948). Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Retrieved from: http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/index.html

Vrij, A. (1993). Credibility judgments of detectives: The impact of nonverbal behavior, social skills and physical characteristics on impression formation. Journal of Social Psychology, 133(5), 601–611. doi: 10.1080/00224545.1993.9713915

Vrij, A. (1994). The impact of information and setting on detection of deception by police detectives. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 18(2), 117–137. doi: 10.1007/BF0 2170074

Vrij, A. (1995). Behavioral correlates of deception in a simulated police interview. Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary and Applied, 129(1), 15–29. doi: 10.1080/00223980.1995.9914944

Vrij, A. (2008). Detecting lies and deceit: Pitfalls and opportunities, 2nd edition. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.

Vrij, A. (2014). Interviewing to detect deception. European Psychologist, 19 (3): 184–194. doi: 10.1027/1016-9040/a000201.

Vrij, A. (2015). A cognitive approach to lie detection. In P. A. Granhag, A. Vrij & B. Verschuere (Eds.), Detecting deception: Current challenges and cognitive approaches (pp. 205–229). Chichester: John Wiley.

Vrij, A., Akehurst, L., & Morris, P. M. (1997). Individual differences in hand movements during deception. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 21(2), 87–102. doi: 10.1023/A:1024951902752

Vrij, A., Edward, K., & Bull, R. (2001). Stereotypical verbal and nonverbal responses while deceiving others. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27(7), 899–909. doi: 10.1177/0146167201277012

Vrij, A., Edward, K., Roberts, K. P., & Bull, R. (2000). Detecting deceit via analysis of verbal and nonverbal behavior. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 24(4), 239–263. doi: 10.1023/A:1006610329284

Vrij, A., Fisher, R. P., Mann, S., & Leal, S. (2006). Detecting deception by manipulating cognitive load. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 10(4), 141–142. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2006.02.003

Vrij, A., Fisher, R. P., Mann, S., & Leal, S. (2008a). A cognitive load approach to lie detection. Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, 5(1–2), 39–43. doi: 10.1002/jip.82

Vrij, A., Fisher, R., Mann, S., & Leal, S. (2009a). Increasing cognitive load in interviews to detect deceit. In B. Milne, S. Savage & T. Williamson (Eds.), International developments in investigative interviewing (pp. 176–189). Uffculme: Willan Publishing.

Vrij, A., & Granhag, P. A. (2012). Eliciting cues to deception and truth: What matters are the questions asked. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 1(2), 110–117. doi: 10.1016/j.jarmac.2012.02.004

Vrij, A., Granhag, P. A., Mann, S., & Leal, S. (2011a). Lying about flying: The first experiment to detect false intent. Psychology, Crime & Law, 17(7), 611–620. doi: 10.1080/10683160903418213

Vrij, A., Leal, S., Granhag, P. A., Mann, S., & Leal, S. (2011b). Outsmarting the liars: Toward a cognitive lie detection approach. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 20(1), 28–32. doi: 10.1177/0963721410391245

Vrij, A., Leal, S., Granhag, P. A., Mann, S., Fisher, R. P., Hillman, J., & Sperry, K. (2009b). Outsmarting the liars: The benefit of asking unanticipated questions. Law and Human Behavior, 33(2), 159–166. doi: 10.1007/s10979-008-9143-y

Vrij, A., & Mann, S. (2003). Deception detection. In P. W. Halligan, C. Bass & D. A. Oakley (Eds.), Malingering and illness deception (pp. 348–362). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Vrij, A., & Mann, S. (2004). Detecting deception: The benefit of looking at a combination of behavioral, auditory and speech content related cues in a systematic manner. Group Decision and Negotiation, 13(1), 61–79. doi: 10.1023/B:GRUP.0000011 946.74290.bc

Vrij, A., Mann, S., Fisher, R. P., Leal, S., Milne, R., & Bull, R. (2008b). Increasing cognitive load to facilitate lie detection: The benefit of recalling an event in reverse order. Law and Human Behavior, 32(3), 253–265. doi: 10.1007/s10979-007-9103-y

Vrij, A., Semin, G. R., & Bull, R. (1996). Insight into behavior displayed during deception. Human Communication Research, 22(4), 544–562. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2958.1996.tb00378.x

Warmelink, L. (2012). Lying about intentions. (Doctoral thesis, Department of Psychology, University of Portsmouth, UK), Retrieved from https://researchportal.port.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/lying-about-intentions(83f7ccc7-b603-4a6d-88b7-b57ef6861cff).html

Warmelink, L., Vrij, A., Mann, S., & Granhag, P. A. (2013). Spatial and temporal details in intentions: A cue to detecting deception. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 27(1), 101–106. doi: 10.1002/acp.2878

Warmelink, L., Vrij, A., Mann, S., Jundi, S., & Granhag, P. A. (2012). The effect of question expectedness and experience on lying about intentions. Acta Psychologica, 141(2), 178–183. doi: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2012.07.011

Warmelink, L., Vrij, A., Mann, S., Leal, S., Forrester, D., & Fisher, R. P. (2011). Thermal imaging as a lie detection tool at airports. Law and Human Behaviour, 35(1), 40–48. doi: 10.1007/s10979-010-9251-3

Zuckerman, M., DePaulo, B. M., & Rosenthal, R. (1981). Verbal and nonverbal communication of deception. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology, volume 14 (pp. 1–57). New York: Academic Press. doi: 10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60369-X


DOI: https://doi.org/10.33525/pprj.v3i2.83

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.