ABSTRACT
T HE ability to detect deception, like perceptual accuracy ingeneral, is often thought to increase as a relationship developsand as the partners become more familiar with each other. Knapp (1984), for example, hypothesizes that accuracy should be higher between friends than acquaintances and higher between intimates than between friends. Yet as Knapp himself notes, the research supporting this view is scanty and subject to a number of qualifications. Our approach begins with a careful examination of the few studies that have been done and then draws on recent literature on perceptual accuracy to develop more specific hypotheses linking accuracy with relational development.
