The Impact of Accusatory, Non-Accusatory, Bait, and False Evidence Questioning on Deception Detection

Abstract This research examines question effects in deception detection. A first set of participants (N = 104) were given the opportunity to cheat to obtain a cash prize, and were then interviewed with accusatory, non-accusatory, bait, or false evidence questioning. A second set of participants (N = 157) watched videotapes of the interviews and made honesty judgments. Finally, interviewee behaviors were coded for demeanor. Overall, accuracy was high (72% overall, 70% excluding confessions, and 62% excluding confessions and adjusting for base rate). The type of question set made little difference in truth bias, accuracy, or demeanor, but false evidence questioning yielded 80% confessions compared to 20% confessions with non-accusatory questioning. No false confessions were obtained. Keywords: ConfessionDeceptionInterrogationLying Acknowledgments This research was conducted with the support of the National Science Foundation (Grant# SBE0725685). Notes Note. None of the differences between question sets were statistically significant at p < .05. Demeanor scoring could potentially range from −6 to + 6, with 0 as the theoretical midpoint between a sincere and an insincere self-presentation. Additional informationNotes on contributorsTimothy R. Levine Timothy R. Levine (PhD, Michigan State University, 1992) is a professor in the School of Media and Communication at Korea University. Hillary C. Shulman Hillary C. Shulman (PhD, Michigan State University, 2001) is an assistant professor in Speech Communication at North Central College. Christopher J. Carpenter Christopher J. Carpenter (PhD, Michigan State University, 2010) is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication at Western Illinois University. David C. DeAndrea David C. DeAndrea (PhD, Michigan State University 2011) is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication at The Ohio State University. J. Pete Blair J. Pete Blair (PhD, Michigan State University, 2004) is an associate professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at Texas State University.