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Encyclopedia of Deception
27 peer-reviewed polygraph studies · 2014–2014
Research topics
All studies [27]
Every peer-reviewed study from Encyclopedia of Deception in our database, ordered newest first.
Investigator Bias
Duchenne Smile
Lying, Prevalence of
The distribution of lying is highly skewed: 60% of people report telling no lies in a 24-hour period, and almost…
McCornack-Parks Model
Deception Detection Accuracy
Meta-analyses consistently show humans accurately classify truths 61% of the time and lies 47% of the time, yielding 54% overall…
Reaction Time
Meta-analysis found lying produces a large RT delay (d = 1.049) compared to truth-telling, even after correcting for publication bias.…
History of Deception: 1950 to the Present
The entry documents the revival of philosophical and psychological interest in deception research beginning in the late 1970s, highlighting key…
Eye Contact
Research across multiple studies demonstrates that eye contact is not a reliable indicator of deception, with over 80% of experts…
Wizards of Lie Detection
Encyclopedia entries are summary articles, not original research with empirical findings.
Truth Bias
People demonstrate a robust truth bias, correctly identifying truths 61% of the time but lies only 47% of the time.…
Scientific Content Analysis
Multiple validation studies found SCAN performed at chance level accuracy (around 50%), showed poor inter-rater reliability, lacks theoretical foundation, and…
Clever Hans
Pfungst demonstrated that Clever Hans answered correctly 89% of the time when questioners knew answers and were visible, but only…
False Confessions
Polygraph examiners interpret ambiguous charts as indicating deception when told suspects confessed; false claims of polygraph failure have caused documented…
Microfacial Expressions
Cognitive Load
Meta-analytic evidence showed cognitive load approaches achieved 67-71% detection accuracy compared to 47-57% for standard approaches. Reverse order recall, unanticipated…
Sender Demeanor
Probing Effect
Asking probing questions does not enhance deception detection accuracy but does increase perceptions of source honesty for both liars and…
Electroencephalography
Aroused Suspicion
Research consistently shows that aroused suspicion decreases truth-bias but has asymmetric effects on accuracy: it impairs truth detection while improving…
Neurophysiology
Neuroimaging shows modest advantages over polygraph (24% improvement in some studies), but faces similar fundamental challenges. Brain regions activated during…
Othello Effect
Situational Familiarity
Across four experiments, participants with high situational familiarity achieved 21-49 percentage point improvements in deception detection accuracy, with this enhancement…
Deception and Technology
Honest Baseline Behaviors
Baseline behaviors can be systematically altered when individuals are aware they are being observed, with demand characteristics producing unconscious behavioral…
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