有很多人都認為自己能夠辨別他人是否在說謊。但研究表明事實並非如此：我們其實更傾向於過度分析他人的行為舉止並依賴錯誤的假設進行判斷，因此做出的結論還不如相信自己的直覺準確。本文探討為何識破謊言如此之難。
詞匯：lying 說謊
Squirming in their seat, glancing around the room and never looking you in the eye. We think we know when someone is lying to us, but do we really?
A study published in the Personality and Social Psychology Review showed that people’s ability to tell if someone is lying to them is little better than 50%. Interestingly, other research suggests that we are actually quite good at unconsciously spotting liars, but our conscious thoughts overrule this. Forensic Scientist R. Edward Geiselman points out that training in recognising liars doesn’t always help, saying “quick, inadequate training sessions lead people to over-analyse and to do worse than if they go with their gut reactions“.
One reason for this may be ‘truth bias‘. Experts have suggested that we are usually biased to believe that people are telling us the truth, at least in most contexts. Another reason that might make us bad at identifying liars is that there are a number of myths around body language and lying. Many of us believe that liars are unlikely to look us in the eye or will fidget in their seat. However, this isn’t necessarily the case. Professor of psychology Kevin Colwell suggests that liars often work hard to disguise these behaviours. It may be that not looking away, or sitting more still than usual, are actually the giveaways that someone is not telling the truth.
To see how someone’s behaviour really changes as they lie, many experts recommend observing people talking about things known to be true. This allows us to establish a baseline of their normal behaviours while speaking. Any differences to this baseline behaviour could show that someone is lying. This is why it’s much harder to lie to people who know us well.
As liars may be working hard to conceal their behaviours, some psychologists have suggested increasing the effort needed for this by asking them to tell their story backwards. When faced with this increased cognitive load, any behavioural tell-tale signs are magnified.
It can be hard to spot liars. We are likely to trust people, and behaviours can be hidden, but if we know someone well, and if someone is working too hard to stick to their story, it’s possible to see through people who are not telling the truth.
詞匯表
squirm 扭來扭去
glance 掃視
look someone in the eye 直視某人的眼睛，與某人坦誠相視
unconsciously 無意識地
spot 看出，發現
conscious 有意識的
over-analyse 過度分析
gut reaction 直覺，本能反應
truth bias “取真偏好”，人們更傾向於相信他人所言為真的現象
biased 偏向的，傾向於
fidget 動來動去
disguise 掩飾
giveaway 讓（某人）露馬腳的事情
behaviour 行為
establish 確立，建立
baseline 基準，基線
conceal 隱藏，掩蓋
cognitive load 認知負荷
behavioural 行為上的
tell-tale sign 暴露隱藏行為的跡象，端倪
stick to 堅持
see through 看穿，識破
測驗與練習
1. 閱讀課文並回答問題
1. True or False? People are good at spotting liars unconsciously.
2. Why can quick training in spotting liars be a problem?
3. Why might liars sit more still than usual?
4. What is important if we want to see how someone’s behaviour changes?
5. What technique makes it difficult for people to conceal lies?
2. 選擇意思恰當的單詞或詞組來完成下列句子。
1. Can’t you sit still? You keep _______.
concealing squirming behaving glancing
2. You need to look at all viewpoints, so that you are not _______.
over-analysed established spotted biased
3. As soon as you _______ a problem, tell us so that we can fix it.
disguise conceal spot glance
4. Watch out for him, he’s always trying to _______ his mistakes, so that no one discovers them.
conceal spot bias establish
5. I know you want to leave because you keep _______ at the clock.
spotting glancing fidgeting establishing
答案
1. 閱讀課文並回答問題。
1. True or False? People are good at spotting liars unconsciously.
True. The article says that people are quite good at unconsciously spotting liars.
2. Why can quick training in spotting liars be a problem?
Training sessions that are not good enough can lead people to over-analyse someone’s behaviour and get worse results than if they trust their intuition.
3. Why might liars sit more still than usual?
Liars may sit more still than usual because they are trying to disguise their behaviour.
4. What is important if we want to see how someone’s behaviour changes?
It is important to establish a baseline of how they normally behave.
5. What technique makes it difficult for people to conceal lies?
Having to tell a story backwards increases the cognitive load and makes it more difficult to conceal that you are lying.
2. 選擇意思恰當的單詞或詞組來完成下列句子。
1. Can’t you sit still? You keep squirming.
2. You need to look at all viewpoints, so that you are not biased.
3. As soon as you spot a problem, tell us so that we can fix it.
4. Watch out for him, he’s always trying to conceal his mistakes, so that no one discovers them.
5. I know you want to leave because you keep glancing at the clock.
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