ABSTRACT
SINCE 1940 a considerable amount of research has been conducted on the ability of observers to detect deceptions on the part of others (Fay & Middleton, 1941; Maier, 1966; Maier & Janzen, 1967; Maier & Thurber, 1968; Thackery & Orne, 1968; Shulman, 1973; Ekman & Friesen, 1974; Maier & Lavrakas, 1976; Bauchner, Brandt, & Miller, 1977; Geizer, Rarick, & Soldow, 1977; Littlepage & Pineault, 1978, 1979; Hocking, Bauchner, Kaminski, & Miller, 1979). This research, which has used a variety of procedures for operationalizing deception, indicates that under normal laboratory conditions, unaided by any mechanical equipment, untrained observers accurately identify previously unknown liars at, or slightly above, what would be expected by chance alone.
