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