Forensics Journal - Stevenson University 2010 | Page 33

FORENSICS JOURNAL VERBAL Details -0.3 Degree to which the message includes details such as descriptions of people, places, actions, objects, events, and the timing of events; degree to which the message seems complete, concrete, striking, or rich in details Deceptives provided less detail Plausibility -0.23 Degree to which the message seems plausible, likely, or believable Deceptives provided less plausible accounts Logical structure -0.25 “Consistency and coherence of statements; collection of different and independent details that form a coherent account of a sequence of events” Deceptives’ accounts were less logical Discrepant, ambivalent 0.34 Speakers’ communications seem internally inconsistent or discrepant; information from different sources (e.g., face vs. voice) seem contradictory; speakers seem to be ambivalent Deceptives provided more discrepant and ambiguous information Word and phrase repetitions 0.21 Subcategory of non-ah speech disturbances in which words or phrases are repeated with no intervening pauses or speech errors Deceptives repeated words and phrases more often Negative statements and complaints 0.21 Degree to which the message seems negative or includes negative comments or complaints (Measures of positive comments were included after being reversed.) Deceptives made more negative statements and complain more Spontaneous corrections -0.29 Spontaneous correction of one’s statements Deceptives offered fewer spontaneous corrections Admitted lack of memory -0.42 Admission of lack of memory Deceptives less likely to admit a faulty memory Related external associations 0.35 Reference to events or relationships that are external to the event of immediate focus Deceptives offered more external associations (events or relationships) relative to key event The missing component of the Blair and Kooi (2004) analysis, verbal behavior, contained the largest number of significant findings. Generally, those who were deceptive provided less detail in their answers and provided less logical and plausible accounts. They also provided more discrepant and ambiguous information, repeated words and phrases more often, and were more likely to complain and make negative statements. They were also less likely to make spontaneous corrections in their story, and less likely to admit having a faulty memory. Overall, in terms of non-verbal behavior, deceptive individuals used fewer illustrators, were seen as less cooperative, pressed their lips and raised their chin more often, appeared more n