NCJ Number
186843
Journal
Law and Human Behavior Volume: 24 Issue: 6 Dated: December 2000 Pages: 643-658
Date Published
December 2000
Length
16 pages
Annotation
Two days of lie detection training included a research component to determine the ability of a group of Canadian Federal parole officers to detect deception.
Abstract
Thirty-two parole officers from the Correctional Service of Canada viewed videotapes and assessed the honesty of 6 true and 6 fabricated speakers who described personal experiences, half of which were assessed before and half after training. The second day of training took place 5 weeks later. At this time 20 of the original participants assessed the honesty of another 12 videotapes, including 6 pre-training and 6 posttraining. The research also used 3 groups of undergraduate participants to assess the same 24 videotapes to isolate factors related to detection accuracy. The three groups included: (1) a feedback group which received feedback on accuracy following each judgment; (2) a feedback-plus-cue- information group which received feedback and information on empirically based cues to deception; and (3) a control group which did not receive feedback or cue information. Results indicated that all the groups performed at or below chance levels at baseline. However, overall, all experimental groups, including the parole officers, became significantly better at detecting deception than the control group. In addition, the parole officers were significantly more accurate (average of 76.7 percent) than their baseline performance (average of 40.4 percent) as well as significantly more accurate than the control group (average of 62.5 percent) by the final set of judgments. Findings indicated that detecting deceit is difficult, but that training and feedback can enhance detection skills. Figures and 23 references (Author abstract modified)