HOW TO CATCH A LIAR

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000201740005-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 19, 2012
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: March 31, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/19: CIA-RDP90-00965R000201740005-6
NEW YORK TIMES
31 March, 1985
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BOOK Se;:ti :,n
How to Catch a -1
TEWNG LIES
Clues to Deceit in the Marketplace,
Politics, and Marriage.
B .V Paul Ekman
Illustrated. 320 pp. New York:
W. W. Norton& Company. $17.95.
By Carol Z. Malatesta
Aliar. may betray himself through linguistic mis-
takes, but the main sources of betrayal are the emo-
tions. Emotion reveals itself, sometimes in contradic-
tory ways, in the voice, body and face. Deceptions : -
cally involve trying to conceal or falsify feelings -t,
are inappropriate or not socially sanctioned or tr rr it e
cover up the fear, guilt and distress that may be pro-
voked when one attempts to getaway with a be. When a
peram lies and has an emotional stmmt in the
- -erect performance is bard to carry off.
MAN is the thinking animal and by virtue of
speech an inventing, __:;ry-making and lying
animal. While lower animals can deceive
and mislead through camouflage and simi-
lar devices, as far as we know only humans can con-
sciously and deliberately lie.
Paul Ekman's "Telling Lies" is about deception
and lie catching. It distills 15 years of scientific study of
nonverbal communication and the clues to deception.
Mr. Ekman, a pioneer in emotions research and nonver-
bal communication, is a professor of psychology at The
University of California, San Francisco. His interest in
using nonverbal clues to detect lying was originally
prompted by clinical concerns - specifically, an inter-
est in understanding how patients can deceive their
therapists about the true state of their feelings and in-
tentions, sometimes with grave consequences (as in the
case of a patient who convinced her therapist to give her
a weekend pass to visit her family, all the while intend-
ing to use the opportunity to commit suicide). As his ex-
peri; a on lying proceeded and were reported in
scientific journals, Mr. Ekmzan found himself sought for
consultation by Government agencies that were inter-
ested in applying them to intelligence and counterintel-
ligence as well as by people select ng and training via
lice officers and business people screening applicants
for sensitive trositions.
Mr. Elan was not pleased by this kind of interest.
He knew that findings in the field were less than clear
and complete, and he was chary of a blind interpreta-
tion and application of the results of laboratory studies.
He urged caution and discretionary use. Unhappily, his
advice often went unheeded. He feared that nonverbal
"experts," consulted secretly and unchallenged by pub-
lic and scientific scrutiny, might supply incomplete or
erroneous information. His apprehension about poten-
tial abuses led him to write this fascinating account, an
accurate, intelligent, informative and thoughtful work
that is accessible to the layman and scientist alike. Mr.
Ekman describes why and how people lie, why some are
successful and others not, how some people are skillful
at detecting deception, while others are not, and which
clues to deception are-reliable and which not. He draws
his data from scientific studies and his illustrative ma-
terial from politics, literature and everyday life.
Several of his examples involve the events leading
up to World War II. A number of fateful deceptions were
attempted during this time, and many were successful.
Hitler for example, in a face-to-face encounter with the
Nonverbal clues to deception leak out What is perhaps
surprising is that few people make use of the leakage
clues available to them and thus fail to detect the liar.
The problem stems from both the adroitness of the de-
ceiver and the naivete of the victim.
Research involving fine-grained analysis of subtle
nonverbal clues has been able to miate and
infallible,
signs that index lying. But the signs am not tar are the people who would use them. t earni-ngg ca-
pacity, motivational state and flexibility of intelligence
are some of the factors to be taken into account in deter-
mining which people might profit from a training pro-
gram in the detection of deceit- Motivation and ability
to learn have to be considerable-
For instance, think about the smile, usually an indi-
cation of happiness or pleasure. It turns out there are 18
different types of authentic, or "felt," smiles in Mr. Ek-
man's system -the contemptuous smile, the shy smile,
the fearful smile and so on. (Mr. Ekman has even clas-
sified the Mona Lisa's smile as a flirtatious one, based
an the observation that she is facing one way but glanc-
ing sideways at the object of her interest) This is not to
mention the host of false smiles, some of which can be
detected by asymmetry, anomalies in timing and lads
of involvement of the muscles around the eyes. Can peo-
ple be trained to detect and use these dozens of subtle
and sometimes conflicting cues? Research indicates
that trained observers can make such distinction
among types of expressions on videotape. Whether their
training will allow them to make the same distinctions
with people they confront in ordinary situations is
certa of de-
Mrr. . Elaw treats the issue of intelligent use
ception dues with the seriousness it deserves. His book
makes it clear that the science of deceit detection is not
yet perfect or even close to perfection - there is a good
deal of latitude for error and misjudgment Mr. lean
does his best to alert its to mistakes and teach us ways of
avoiding them. But a question that arises in reading this
book concerns future use. As science Progresses, we
may very well see the day when something near perfec-
tion is achieved. Then we will be faced with the question
of whether or not we want to become skilled deception
detectors.
WHAT would our social life be like if every-
one had the ability to detect others' true
sentiments and intentions with unerring ac-
curacy? People learn to mask or conceal
their emotions for very legitimate reasons - to protect
their privacy, to prevent others from gaining an unfair
advantage over them and, more altruistically, to pro-
tect other people's feelings. In the ability where con-
trol work, we have found-that training in the
trol the musculature of the face during emotional states
-b ms" early as-bilancy. Well before adolescence, a
child will have gained a good.measu a of control over
facial musculature and will have discerned that others
have an eaual or even a superior capacity to dissimu-
late. It is common for young children to wish for the su-
pernatural ability to read the thoughts and feelings of
British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, was able
to convince him that he was not planning war, and be
succeeded in concealing the fact that the German Army
was already mobilized to attack C zechoslavakia. Why
and how was Chamberlain duped? According to Mr.
Ekman, Hitler's success stemmed from his ability to
mask his real feelings and intentions, as well as from
Chamberlain's lack of access (because of inadequacies
of translation) to some of the clues to deception, his fail-
ure to accurately interpret those that were available to
him and his desire to believe Hitler. -
Continued
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/19: CIA-RDP90-00965R000201740005-6
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/19: CIA-RDP90-00965R000201740005-6
Others' (and to hope that the power isn't' reciprocal).'
into adulthood. Human
Such a desire ~ ~'P~ rivaie We, and if-
that dignity calls for the preservation of p means accepting the tact that` others may occasion-
ally be lets than truthful with nj, sb-be it
Mr. Ekman is not insensitive to the political and so-
cial implications of making the information in this book
available to the public- It could be.used for malevolent
purposes. Might it not be of more aid to the conniving
head of state, the duplicitau spouse or the terrorist in
training than to those who would interfere with the
plans of such people? Mr. Elanan doubts this. As he per-
ceives it, statlesmen, politicians, people in business.
parents and spouses will act on their beliefs about how
to get away with lying or bow to go about detecting a liar
- whether their beliefs are accurate and cautious or
not In Mr. EYman's view, it is better that people act on
fact rather than bungs and intuition. In any case, he
suggests that his book should help he catchers more
than liars, since a manual for liars would not make
sense - natural liars don't need a manual, and the rest
of us don't have the talent to benefit from one. Then
again. be could be lying. 0
THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW 9
Carol Z. Malatesta, who teaches psychology at the,
New School for Social Research, is the co-author of
"Emotion in Adult Development."
A World of Deception
It is not just altruism or respect for privacy that
should give pause to the relentless lie catcher.... I
believe it worth noting that sometimes lie catching
violates a relationship, betrays trust, steals
information that was not, for good reason, given.
The he catcher should realize that detecting clues
to deceit is a presumption - it takes without
permission, despite the other person's wishes....
Consider what life would be like if everyone could
he perfectly or if no one could lie at alL I have
thought about this most m regard to lies about
emotions, since those are the hardest lie . and if
could never know bow someone really felt,
we knew that we couldn't know, We would be more
tenuous. Certain in the knowledge that every show
of emotion might be a mere display put on -W
please, manipulate, or mislead, individuals would
be more adrift, attachments less firm.... We lead
our lives believing that there is a core of emotional
truth, that most people can't or won't mislead us
about how they feel. it treachery was as easy with
emotions as with ideas, if expressions and gestures
could be disguised and falsified as readily as
words, our emotional lives would be impoverished
and more guarded than they are. -
And if we could never lie, if a smile was reliable,
"never absent when pleasure was felt, and never
present without pleasure, We would be rougher
than it is, many relationships barite tO maintain.
politeness, attempts to smooth matters over, to
conceal feelings one wished one didn't feel - all
that would be gone. There would be no way not to be
known, no opportunity to sulk or lick one's wounds
except alone. Consider having as a friend, co-
worker, or lover a person Who in terms of emotional
control and disguise was like a three-month-old
infant, yet in all other respects - intelligence,
skills, and so on-was fully able as any adult It is
a painful prospect- -From "Triune I
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/19: CIA-RDP90-00965R000201740005-6