Spy the Lie: Former CIA Officers Teach You How to Detect Deception

by Philip Houston

the fact is people are smart enough, and it’s certainly easy enough, to game the baselining system.

DO: • Practice—a lot. Watch talk shows, interview shows, news programs, any forum in which people are called upon to respond to questions. To use a golf analogy, we’ve taught you how to grip and swing the club. How good your game gets depends entirely on how much you practice. • Refrain from practicing on your significant other. • Use your new skills only for good. DON’T: • Do or say anything that makes the person aware that you’re reading him, because it will trigger his defenses. For example, don’t confront the

person with your observation that he exhibited a particular deceptive behavior. If you tell him you spotted an anchor-point movement, he’ll do his best to keep still for the remainder of the encounter, and you’ve lost what might have been a very valuable tool. • Allow yourself to deviate from the cluster rule or from a focus on the behaviors we’ve outlined. Getting overly aggressive doesn’t work—you’ll see an eyelash flutter and you’ll be ready to say, “Book ’em, Danno.” • Ask the question unless you’re sure you really want to know the answer.

Anchor point—Any part of the body that anchors a person to a particular spot or position, including the feet, which are always anchor points. We look at anchor point movement as a potential nonverbal deceptive behavior in which anxiety is dissipated through the physical movement.

Attack behavior—A deceptive verbal behavior in which a person attacks the questioner, the victim, or any third party as a means of compelling the questioner to back off from a particular line of questioning.

Bait question—A question that establishes a hypothetical situation and is designed to trigger a “mind virus” in the mind of a deceptive person. Bait questions typically begin with the phrase, “Is there any reason that…”

Baselining—Comparing observed behavior with an established norm. This is a behavior-assessment strategy that we recommend be avoided because of the high potential for drawing a faulty conclusion.

Behavioral pause/delay—A nonverbal deceptive behavior in which a silent gap of time precedes a per...

Catch-all question—A wrap-up question that is designed to uncover lies of omission, and to serve as a safety net in the event that the questioner inadvertently overlooks an issue. Example: “What haven’...

Closed-ended question—A question that’s used to gather specific case facts. Example: “Who was already in the offi...

Cluster—Any combination of two or more decept...

Convincing statement—A true or irrefutable statement made in an effort to convince the accuser and to influence his perception, rather than to convey information that addresses the facts of the case.

Exclusion qualifier—A deceptive verbal behavior used to enable a person who wants to withhold certain information to answer a question, but without disclosing all of the information. Examples: “basically,” “for the most part,” “fundamentally,” “probably,” “most often.”

Global behavior assessment—A behavior assessment strategy that focuses on capturing and analyzing all types of behavior, rather than focusing on specific deceptive behaviors exhibited in response to a question.

Grooming gesture—A nonverbal deceptive behavior in which anxiety is dissipated through physical activity in the form of grooming oneself or the immediate surroundings.

Hand-to-face activity—A deceptive nonverbal behavior in which a person touches his face or head region in response to a question, which can be prompted by di...

Inappropriate level of concern—A deceptive verbal or nonverbal behavior in which a person attempts to equalize the exchange by diminishing the importance of the matter at hand.

Leading question—A question that contains the answer that the questioner is looking for.

Lie of influence—A lie that is conveyed by means of attempting to manipulate perception rather than to provide truthful information.

Microexpression—An involuntary, split-second movement of facial muscles that conveys an emotion such as anger, contempt, or disgust.

Mind virus—A colloquial term for the psychological discomfort a person feels when he

receives information that has potentially negative consequences, causing his mind to race with hypothetical ramifications of the information.

Verbal deceptive indicator—Any deceptive behavior that involves verbal communication in response to a question.

Verbal/nonverbal disconnect—A deceptive behavior in which a person’s verbal and nonverbal behaviors in response to a question don’t match. A common verbal/nonverbal disconnect in Western cultures occurs when a person nods affirmatively while saying “No,” or turns his head from side to side while saying “Yes.”