Human Lie-Detection Performance: Does Random Assignment versus Self-Selection of Liars and Truth-Tellers Matter?

Karl Ask, Sofia Calderon, Erik Mac Giolla

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Deception research has been criticized for its common practice of randomly allocating senders to truth-telling and lying conditions. In this study, we directly compared receivers’ lie-detection accuracy when judging randomly assigned versus self-selected truth-tellers and liars. In a trust-game setting, senders were instructed to lie or tell the truth (random assignment; n = 16) or were allowed to choose to lie or tell the truth of their own accord (self-selection; n = 16). In a sample of receivers (N = 200), we tested two alternative hypotheses, predicting opposite effects of random assignment (vs. self-selection) on receivers’ lie-detection accuracy. Accuracy rates did not differ significantly as a function of veracity assignment, failing to support the claim that random assignment of liars and truth-tellers alters the detectability of deception. Equivalence tests indicated that, while a small effect of random assignment cannot be ruled out, moderate (or larger) effect sizes are unlikely.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)128-136
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition
Volume9
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2020
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Deception
  • Detection strategy
  • Lie detection
  • Random assignment
  • Self-selection

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