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 Psychiatrist and neurologist Alan R. Hirsch, M.D., of Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago, made a list of verbal and nonverbal signs that he claims can help determine whether a person is lying. Dr. Hirsch made his findings famous by using the presidential deposition videotape of Bill Clinton explaining his relationship with Monica Lewinsky to show when the president allegedly lied.  "The literature on lying says there's an increase in nasal touching when you lie," says Dr. Hirsch. "While watching the Clinton testimony I noticed he was continually touching his nose." Dr. Hirsch examined the video in detail and found that during the 16-minute section in which the president was telling the truth, he never touched his nose, but during the portion of the video in which prosecutors alleged the president had lied, Clinton touched his nose numerous times. "Now, one indicator isn't enough to prove a connection," Dr. Hirsch says. With tongue-in-check, he says this initial observation could merely mean "Clinton was a compulsive proboscis manipulator." To make a more reliable conclusion about Clinton's statements, Dr. Hirsch scoured professional journal articles and books on lying (mendacity, in shrink-speak) and narrowed down the list of lie-detecting techniques to 23. Verbal Signs Of Lying According to Dr. Hirsch, when they're in the act of lying, people typically: 1) Expand contractions, stressing full-form verbs, such as "did not" and "could not," to convince people they're speaking the truth.
2) Deny lying, making emphatic claims to be telling the truth, such as "I have no reason to lie."
3) Pause and use nonword sounds during hesitations in their speech ("uh," "er" and "ah" are examples).
4) Make speech errors and more frequent gaffes than people who speak the truth. Errors can include grammar, tense and losing thought in midsentence.
5) Stutter, stammer and become tongue-tied.
6) Clear their throats and make other noises.
7) Use qualifiers and modifiers, explanatory words, such as "however," "sometimes" and "generally." Nonverbal Signs Of Lying Even when they're not speaking, Dr. Hirsch says someone who is telling a lie can be revealed by other signs. While telling a lie, contends Dr. Hirsch, people typically: 8) Avert their gaze, trying to avoid eye contact.
9) Close their hands/interlock their fingers.
10) Cross their arms as if creating a barrier.
11) Drink and swallow more often than those who tell the truth.
12) Use fewer hand gestures, staying stiff, controlling the movements of their hands.
13) Shrug their shoulders and flip their hands over in an "open" (palms up) fashion.
14) Perform hand-to-face grooming, touching their face, ears and hair.
15) Handle objects, such as pens, papers and eyeglasses.
16) Blink less than people who tell the truth.
17) Do less finger pointing.
18) Lean and shift — leaning forward, resting their elbows on desktops or their knees. They also shift often when sitting.
19) Lick their lips often.
20) Pucker and tighten their lips.
21) Sigh and take deep breaths.
22) Smile more and laugh inappropriately.
23) Touch, scratch and rub their nose frequently. {13} Dr. Hirsch found that during the Clinton testimony, 21 of the 23 indicators were markedly positive. Just two examples of Clinton's behavior were the liar's lean and avoiding contractions. "During truthful portions he did not lean at all, but during the lying part he leaned many, many times," says Dr. Hirsch. And as for avoiding contractions, Clinton increased his use of full words by 300 percent during the section of the taped deposition during which he is alleged to have lied. To use this lie-detecting method yourself, you'll first need to observe the speaker in question while he or she is telling known truths, and then compare the behaviors you witnessed to the behaviors that show up when you believe the speaker is lying.
Last updated January 19, 2000
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