Take the test that reveals how good you are at spotting a liar

Can you tell if someone is lying straight to your face? Researchers in Montreal say most of us are fairly bad at this. They claim the ...

Can you tell if someone is lying straight to your face?

Researchers in Montreal say most of us are fairly bad at this. They claim the problem may, in part, be the result of a socially ingrained 'truth bias.'

For some people who have conditions like autism, or suffer from diseases like Alzheimer's, separating fact from fiction particularly tricky.

Now researchers have created a series of videos that can test how well someone can spot different types of lies. 

Watch the video and take the quiz below to see how well you can spot a liar

DETECTING A WHITE LIE 

A team of Montreal researchers has developed an inventory of 926 short videos to visualize facial cues in social interactions.

Actors in the videos were asked to convey four intentions: to be sincere, tell a 'white lie,' tease the other actor, or be sarcastic.

The study found that certain indirect forms of speech like sarcasm proved to be more difficult for men to detect.

People with Autism spectrum disorders, or diseases like Alzheimer's or Parkinson's have more difficulty detecting subtle intentions.

The videos can also be used to help train people on the signs they need to look out for when spotting subtle lies in the form of sarcasm or teasing.  

The Relational Inference and Social Communication (RISC) inventory was developed by Kathrin Rothermich of McGill's School of Communication Disorders and her colleague Marc Pell. 

'We tend to believe that people tell the truth most of the time,' says Rothermich.

'So sarcasm and white lies seem to go against a basic understanding of what 'should' be happening in conversation.' 

'This may be part of what makes them so difficult to recognize for some.'

The study involved 926 short videos, which feature scripted scenes played out by four actors.

The actors were asked to express specific intentions: to be sincere, tell a 'white lie,' tease the other actor, or be sarcastic.

Based on the inventory, the researchers also developed a quiz to test if participants can identify intentions based on facial cues.

HOW TO TRIP UP A LIAR

New research suggests that there may be a much easier way to spot a liar, and it's not by identifying the physical clues.

Asking 'open' questions, which prompt a person to elaborate on what's been said, has been found to be 20 times more effective in revealing a lie. 

Researchers used this method to 'find the liar,' among 1,000 airport passengers. 

If the initial question is 'Where do you work?' the study suggests a followup which focuses on smaller, verifiable details, like, 'What bus do you take?'

Using this technique, researchers were able to detect the liars 70 per cent of the time – 20 times more effectively than techniques such as looking for physical signs of lying.

'There are no consistent signs that always arise alongside deception,' Tom Ormerod of the University of Sussex told Metro.

'I giggle nervously, others become more serious, some make eye contact, some avoid it.'

Unanticipated questions will catch a liar off guard and make the falsehood become more obvious. 

The study found that participants were generally able to detect teasing, or truthful interactions. 

Sarcasm was more difficult for men to detect, though sarcasm between friends was found to be more recognizable.

'We discovered that the actors found it hardest to perform the scripts where they were being asked to tease one another,' says Rothermich.

'This may be because teasing doesn't always fit easily or logically into the conversation. 

'One of the things that some actors did was to speak with exaggerated or fake accents when they were teasing, which is something that other researchers have also reported.'

Non-literal speech, like sarcasm or a 'white lie,' may go against a person's understanding of the way a particular encounter is supposed to happen.

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