Interview and Interrogation Techniques Tip 5 | Eye Contact

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Interview and Interrogation Techniques Tip 5

The Myth About Eye Contact and Eye Movement as Deception

101 Tips for Interviewers and Interrogators

How often have heard or been told that a lack of eye contact is a reliable method for spotting liars? Eye contact has always been highly rated as a sure-fire method for spotting deception. Research done world-wide however, has determined that people of all types of cultures, ages, backgrounds and languages report that eye contact is a preferred method for spotting deception.

This widely held belief is one reason why people perform so poorly at spotting deception. Unfortunately experienced investigators as well as interview and interrogation training courses continue to perpetuate this rampant myth.

Interview and interrogation techniques training have long echoed this same belief. It’s almost as if it is the “gold standard” for spotting deception. The fly in the ointment is that there are numerous scientific studies regarding eye contact or eye movement are reliable cues to spotting deception.

Without prompting and a little critical thinking it becomes very obvious why “eye contact” and lateral eye movement have gained such undeserved credibility. First, it makes lie spotting seem so easy “even a cave man can do it.” Second, it fulfils the need to find a way to confirm our “suspicions” that someone is lying and gives us a fool-proof way to supposedly to spot deception every time. Third, it is easy for lazy way for people who teach interview and interrogation to proffer their expertise and bolster their ego’s as “master lie catchers” without having done any requisite research to support the curriculum they teach.

In Tip #5 of 101 Tips for Interviewers and Interrogators, I address the eye contact and eye movement myths – the myths that “won’t die!”

More Video at Stan’s YouTube Channel – 101 Tips for Interviewing and Interrogation

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