Nonverbal Pseudoscience in Justice and Security Contexts
Written by: Anna Currence O'Neal
March 2023
Academic Journal Article Analysis
Department of Communication Arts Georgia Southern University
COMS 5332G: Nonverbal Comm.
Research Rabbit
The following articles were gathered by searching in Research Rabbit’s database. Research Rabbit is a large catalog of academic articles across many fields, including nonverbal communication (NVC). Membership is free and many of the articles are there in PDF form. If they are not available, there are avenues to contact authors or publishers to possibly get a copy sent to you. I have not done this personally, but a colleague of mine has. It is an extremely helpful resource.
Entry 1: The Analysis of Nonverbal Communication: The Dangers of Pseudoscience in Security and Justice Contexts
Article Listing
Denault, V., Plusquellec, P., Jupe, L. M., St. Yves, M., Dunbar, N. E., Hartwig, M., … van Koppen, P.J. (2020). The analysis of nonverbal communication: The dangers of
pseudoscience in security and justice contexts. Anuario de Psicologia Juridica,
30, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.5093/apj2019a9
Summary
The article opens with a paragraph on the basics of nonverbal communication. The authors tell their audience that though there are many applications for NVC research, lie detection at a glance is not one of them. It is a common misconception made worse by television.
To begin their discussion, the authors briefly outline the scope of NVC research and the peer-review process. They then give three examples of pseudoscience used in security and criminal justice contexts and delve into the consequences of their use. These examples are the Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques (SPOT), the Behavior Analysis Interview (BAI), and synergology. The authors offer five hypotheses to explain some organizations’ reliance on nonverbal pseudoscience. They end with an overview of their findings and goals for the article and the scientific reclamation of NVC, particularly in security and criminal justice contexts.
Relevance
The real-world relevance of this article is glaring. There is blatant disregard for the scientific method in these programs and denial that they lead to displaced confidence in surveyors. Both occurring in an industry where accurate behavior observation can mean the difference between freedom and incarceration. The impacts are felt throughout the criminal justice system and transportation authority, both in the US and internationally. As the authors of this article state, “the consequences of the misuses of NVC are important enough to question the responsibility of organizations in the fields of security and justice that have used [or are still using] either SPOT, the BAI, or synergology.”
The hypotheses these authors offer for why these government agencies are continuing to rely on NVC pseudoscience (in its ever-evolving forms) are intriguing. The authors argue that pseudoscience offers quick fixes rather than the more time-intensive scientific study. This, they propose, draws in law enforcement agencies that have a time-sensitive problem to solve (or show progress in addressing) such as the post-9/11 practices put in place by the TSA to identify potential terrorists. The authors argue that there is a lack of scientific knowledge and a lack of requests from agencies for the science backing the pitched programs. They argue that “pseudoscience can appear much more enticing and reassuring [than academic research] by implementing marketing campaigns and using logical fallacies.” Neither of those tactics are used in academic study. Next, they argue that law enforcement agencies underestimate the disadvantages of these methods while overestimating the advantages. And lastly, the authors acknowledge the scientific community’s responsibility of setting right the unrealistic expectations of NVC held by these agencies and their employees (often borne from TV and other entertainment media).
The authors end their article by summarizing their findings and stating that “Good faith … is not sufficient for good practice.” They then sum up the consequences of their three examples. I will go into more detail on this in the next section. SPOT created ‘an unacceptable risk of racial and religious profiling’, the BAI increases the risk of innocent people (especially juveniles and other vulnerable persons) making false confessions, and synergology could distort the outcome of trials and important decisions made by professionals in positions of trust and authority. NVC pseudoscience is a prolific problem that impacts real-life situations.
What I Learned
Each article discussion in the essay has a “What I Learned” section. This one is a bit longer than the others for two reasons. The first reason is that the detailed descriptions of each program in this article and their documented effects blew my mind. I just couldn’t believe that people, RESEARCHERS, in the criminal justice field are approving and employing these methods that are proven to be ineffectual and harmful. I kept this data in here because it is simply staggering. The second reason this section is longer is that the subsequent articles (and my assessment of them) as well as my final thoughts were colored by this article. As such, the data in this article regarding pseudoscientific practices and programs is referenced many times throughout my discussion.
SPOT is a program that was employed by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) after 9/11. In 2010, close to 3,000 Behavior Detection Officers were sent to 35% of TSA regulated airports (161 out of 457). The program costs around 212 million tax dollars annually. The TSA’s Multicultural Branch went through 2,059 complaints of violations of civil rights and civil liberties from October 2015-February 2018. In 121 instances, there was no response from the complainant in the 10 day window to acquire more information. In 872 instances, the complaints were not substantiated or referred elsewhere because the complaints were not relevant to the Multicultural Branch’s jurisdiction. And finally, in a staggering 1,066 instances, the Multicultural Branch recommended training due to potential discrimination or other reasons. That is above 50% of complaints, almost one for every day analyzed in the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) study. As a result of this study, the TSA implemented an “oversight mechanism” to help compliance with DHS and TSA policies that prohibit unlawful profiling” in October of 2019. (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2019) The SPOT program mirrors the concerns I have heard all my adult life of post-9/11 TSA procedures being more for show than actual security improvements and threat detection. The authors emphasize that the agencies defending SPOT have insufficient evidence to justify its continued use (“e.g. overreliance on anecdotal evidence”).
The BAI method is the first step of the Reid technique in which 500,000+ people have been trained. Put simply, “the investigator conducts a non accusatory interview with a suspect” paying special attention to nonverbal cues when answering certain questions. This is a method employed by many law enforcement and security investigators. At the end of the BAI, an investigator is supposed to have formed a “definite or reasonably certain opinion” that the suspect is guilty. The investigator then moves on to the second step of the Reid technique by telling the suspect there is no doubt they are guilty and offering a moral excuse for the crime while ensuring that the suspect cannot deny involvement. Lastly, the investigator poses a question in which both answers are incriminating; then requests details and a written statement. This is a manipulative strategy and, in my opinion, is uncomfortably close to leading a witness (a strategy restricted in courts of law due to the potential of the examiner directly influencing the evidence of the case). The authors emphasize that the Reid technique, though still taught and employed by law enforcement agencies, merely “reflects common misbeliefs about behavioral correlates of guilt or innocence.” There is a cautionary call to those that use this method but the authors note that it is of no use because investigators cannot know all of the variables that impact verbal and nonverbal communication in an individual. The authors also emphasize that this technique, when used by justice professionals, can lead to a “psychologically coercive interrogation and increase the risks of innocent people (especially juveniles and other vulnerable persons) making false confessions.” They give examples from 1997 to 2015.
Synergology is an approach that was “created” in 1996 and is used mostly in French-speaking areas. The official website for synergology claims that it is a “scientific discipline of reading gestures” but despite this claim at scientific founding “their approach neglects the process of critical appraisal of scientific research on NVC, just like the other two examples. These are the kind of cues often referenced in TV crime dramas including but certainly not limited to micro-itching, minor head tilts, and eye movement. None of these cues have been scientifically tested. They advertise their program not based on its scientific research but on the number of people who have been through their training and what occupations those people had (e.g. lawyers, police officers, judges, etc.). This is very misleading and lends the program misplaced credibility. Here again, they also claim to be ruled by a code of ethics but this is ineffectual and does not negate the lack of scientific foundation.
The most shocking part of the implementation of these methods is that all of them simultaneously decrease accuracy in behavioral lie detection while increasing the trained individual’s confidence in how they interpret what they are observing. In other words, there is a simultaneous rise in the use of ineffectual NVC lie detection and false confidence in said detection. This alone should cause alarm bells in the criminal justice field calling for massive change.
Supplemental Citations for #1
U.S. Government Accountability Office. (2019). Aviation Security: TSA has policies that
prohibit unlawful profiling but should improve its oversight of behavior detection
activities. GAO-19-268. https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-19-268#:~:text=TSA's
Law Offices of Christopher J. Cherella. (2020). Understanding the Reid Technique in Police
Interrogations. https://www.wicriminaldefense.com/blog/2020/september/understan
U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (2011). Screening of Passengers by Observation
Techniques (SPOT) Program. DHS/TSA/PIA-016. https://www.dhs.gov/publication/
Entry 2: Nonverbal Communication
Article Listing
Hall, J. A., Horgan, T. G., and Murphy, N. A. (2018). Nonverbal Communication. Annual Review of Psychology. https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev-psych- 010418-103145
Summary
The authors begin with an introduction giving the basics of NVC research and making clear that, although for complete understanding the verbal component must also be examined, this review focuses on NVC exclusively. They stress in the introduction and throughout the article that there is no dictionary of nonverbal cues. The encoding and decoding of these cues is subject to almost incalculable situational (proximal) and evolutionary (distal) factors. Devoting the first section to encoding nonverbal cues, the authors illustrate a quadrant system to separate distal and proximal factors (two quadrants for each). The authors detail visual and auditory cues in a variety of different contexts showing the complexity of attempting to study nonverbal communication. They then move on to decoding, offering examples of the Brunswik Lens Model, and discuss research attempts to measure interpersonal accuracy (IPA).
The article ends by looking to the future and offering the authors’ general conclusions. They discuss the impact of technology on the field of NVC (from photography and video recordings to automated measurement) and how NVC is being employed in the field of neuroscience.
Relevance
This article is a basic overview of NVC research. The authors are not advocating for any particular use of NVC in practice. They state easily understandable and relatively concise information, considering the amount of information presented and the number of fields NVC crosses into. The article’s sections are well-defined and it is clear that plain language guidelines were consulted in the formatting. The authors kept the subsections relatively short (with rare exceptions, 1-3 paragraphs), used selective bolding to emphasize keywords, and provided a quick list summary of their points near the conclusion. All-in-all this is a very well-put-together article.
As detailed in #1, the implementation of nonverbal pseudoscience is a major problem in our criminal justice system. Articles like this are what need to be distributed to agencies that have been or are still employing those techniques. The authors stress in the second paragraph that verbal and nonverbal communication are complex behavioral combinations brought from even more tangled origins within the individual. In the next paragraph, they emphasize that there is no dictionary of nonverbal cues. Though there are helpful handbooks, they are less alluring than the quantitative nature of the more easily trainable pseudo-science loosely based on actual nonverbal research. That is simply not how the field works regardless of what the film industry and pseudo-scientists lead us to believe. I’m not sure how deprogramming that training will work, but circulating the peer-reviewed research and combatting falsehoods would be a valiant first step.
I would recommend this article to others simply because it is so clearly formatted and articulates the basics of NVC so well. It gives the research and points to where it is lacking or where more work needs to be done. It is engaging and concise where possible, a relatively fluid read. The authors sent me to Google a few times for definitions or background information. I learned a lot. The act of looking up some of the words reminded me of William Faulkner, speaking of Ernest Hemingway, “He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary.” (Bracken, 2023) To which Hemmingway responded, “Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?” (Bracken, 2023) After all, as referenced in Helm’s film, one of the greatest of Shakespeare’s plays, King Lear, ended with a simple and modest, “He died.” (Helm, 2007) I enjoy stretching my vocabulary and I relish learning new words. I also have an appreciation for plain language and simplicity. To each their own and both have value.
What I Learned
Much of this article was a review of what we have learned so far in class. They explore the basics of encoding/decoding and the many factors that influence those mechanisms. The illustration of nonverbal quadrants was a nice visual reference throughout the reading. I referred back to it a number of times to better understand what the authors were saying. That is the sign of a beneficial image that adds to the article in a meaningful way.
The authors mention research that noted, “depressed adults appear to actively suppress felt happiness with their facial expressions.” This really got me thinking. Through my husband's difficulties and health problems, he is experiencing things he has never felt before. He has never been physically weak before (his illness took a lot from him physically) nor has he felt this level of anxiety. He talks about shying away from good feelings because they hurt too. I think that is part of the draw to antidepressants for many people. Stimuli (general arousal; whether positive or negative) cause a visceral reaction in the body. The introduction of any stimuli just causes tension after a while, in that state of being perpetually overwhelmed. Pain or any number of other unpleasant symptoms result. Depression is often linked with physical pain. I wonder if there is a connection here between shying away from feeling anything during depressive episodes. Why the medicine for those depressive episodes is a “balancer” to put you somewhere in the middle of the emotional range without cresting on joy or falling into despair. The stimuli (positive or negative or both) hurt the person experiencing this. So a medical answer is to dull the stimuli in an effort to make the world less abrasive to the individual. Sometimes a medical push is needed to do this, but I have very strong opinions against the use of antidepressants on a large scale or over a long period of time for anyone. Especially for young people and if natural methods have not been given a true chance to work. It is not good to be perpetually in the middle of the emotional range, never feeling the peaks and valleys. As I said, that point got me thinking about my husband’s patterns, about my own, and about other testimonials I’ve heard and read. I think there might be something there about depressed people suppressing feelings and emotions.
There is data referenced that shows more disengagement from higher SES-background individuals and more engagement from lower SES-background individuals. This makes sense as a common negative archetype for the rich is their coldness and mental detachment from the plight of the poor and a common positive archetype for the poor is their warmth and genuine community. It is interesting that this is reflected in the 2009 data. I wonder what the data says now.
It was also interesting to read about the impact of technology. The revelation of photography for researchers in the 19th century must have been truly exciting. The ability to capture visual data exactly as it was with (relatively) minimal labor and examine it later would surely draw in anyone studying behavior. Similarly exciting is the more recent ability to automatically measure scads of data for researchers to analyze through computer and digital innovations. Though these innovations eliminate some parts of human involvement, a human component is necessary to make any mid to high-level inferences from the data gathered.
Supplemental Citations for #2
Bracken, H. (2023, January 17). Was there a feud between William Faulkner and Ernest
Hemingway?. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/story/was-there-a- feud-between-william-faulkner-and-ernest-hemingway
Helm, Z. (Director). (2007). Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium. [Film]. 20th Century Studios,
Icon Productions.
Entry 3: Reading Lies: Nonverbal Communication and Deception
Article Listing
Vrij, A., Hartwig, M. (2019). Reading Lies: Nonverbal Communication. Annual Review of
Psychology (Volume 70:295-317), Annual Reviews.
Summary
This article is similar to Entry #1. Both discuss the problem of pseudoscience in the practice of NVC in the field and mention the BAI and TSA program as examples. Where this article differs is in its declaration that verbal communication holds more quantifiable cues of deception than nonverbal.
The authors begin by underlining the field's interdisciplinary nature and state that according to research we are not as good at lie detection as we would like to believe, by far. They mention that no one can know how many innocent people have been punished because of nonverbal training in the justice system. Also, though this is not mentioned in the article, how many guilty people have gone free if we have been looking at the wrong thing? The data this article gives supports the claim that there is no real difference in the nonverbal behavior of liars and truth-tellers. The whole practice is irresponsible at best.
The authors conclude that there is a lot of research on NVC and deception but nothing captures the full picture of the relationship. The research says (1) nonverbal cues are faint and unreliable to detect deception but verbal cues are more diagnostic; (2) researchers must consider the setting in which interrogation takes place; (3) people are bad at lying especially if they only have visual cues; (4) the relationship between NVC and deception is overestimated, many are simply untrue; and finally, (5) “stereotypical views are hard to debunk.”
Relevance
This article is a little wordy and the formatting is bland and not engaging. I do not like reading double-spaced documents. My preference is 1.15 line spacing with a space after each paragraph, utilizing a heading in larger font size than the normal text. Headings should decrease in size as subsections are added but stay left-aligned. These writers chose to bold headings at the same font size as their normal text and designate subsections by indentation. Additionally, the tables and images are not inserted into the body of the article. Rather they are grouped at the back after their extensive list of citations. This could be due to the unpublished nature of the version submitted to Research Rabbit.
The most common thread I have read about in this research is that there are gaps in the research and no clear theoretical framework. Followed closely by the declaration that the pseudoscience being proliferated by popular media is dangerous in practice.
This article is very in-depth and offers more information than #1, which covered a similar topic. They not only emphasize that there is little to no evidence of a connection between NVC and lying but go further in stating that it is verbal communication that has shown a promising link to lie detection. The authors also mention facial micro-expressions, neurolinguistic programming, and the baseline approach in the examples of NVC pseudoscience. It was interesting to read about how the baseline approach, which is the basis for lie detection machines, is like comparing apples to oranges because of the drastic shift in interview circumstances between the “small talk” and the interrogation portion.
What I Learned
I learned that the earliest documented attempt to list nonverbal cues of lying appeared in 900 B.C. claiming that shivers and fidgeting were indications of lying. The article offers a few reasons why this was and still is a major sign looked at by lie-catchers. I think the main one that makes sense here is that when one is accused of lying they are more nervous and exhibit more of these signs. If the lie is confirmed, the accuser has confirmation bias for their beliefs. If the person is found to be telling the truth, the behaviors are written off and rationalized away. The article makes clear that liars and truth-tellers exhibit the same number of nonverbal cues.
Another interesting fact mentioned in the article was that Western European law enforcement officers are trained to ignore NVC. I knew that American police officers are taught about reading NVC, that is what a lot of these articles are pointing to as a problem in our criminal justice system. Perhaps researchers can use examples in Europe to support changes to our training and operation manuals. The scientific community has moved away from NVC signs of deception because there is no empirical data to support the connection. It is time for those in the criminal justice field especially to follow suit.
The self-presentation theory was interesting as well. It led me to think about when I was younger I had a lot of different circles between school, church, extracurriculars, camps, etc. Based on the setting of the encounter my behavior would be a bit different. For example, I would dress and act more properly in church than I would in summer camp. I realized at a young age that I had “different modes” of behavior. My mom was pretty serious about etiquette and appropriate behavior at appropriate times. Not in an overbearing way. We were just expected to “act right”. Some of the camps I attended were theater camps and I made the connection that life can be like a theater early as well.
Entry 4: Deception and lie detection in the courtroom: The effect of defendants wearing medical face masks
Article Listing
Vrij, A., Hartwig, M. (2021). Deception and Lie Detection in the Courtroom: The Effect of
Defendants Wearing Medical Face Masks. Department of Psychology, University
of Portsmouth. doi: 10.1016/j.jarmac.2021.06.002. Epub 2021 Aug 24. PMID:
36778029; PMCID: PMC9902031.
Summary
This article out of John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City analyzes the effect of face masks on lie detection both in the virtual and physical court. They also examine virtual courts as a whole in regard to NVC lie detection. The authors discuss the difference between a lab setting and a courtroom setting and the extent to which the research being referenced (all lab work) can be transferred into the courtroom setting. The differences in the environment that may affect results are stakes, preparation, interview setting, and available background information. The article ends with a recommendation on how to instruct jurors considering the evidence presented without causing over analyzation of the cues presented to the jurors as signals of lying.
As with most of the NVC articles I have read this semester, these authors also emphasize that nonverbal research has been twisted by pseudoscientists and has made a mark on how society at large conceives of NVC. In other words, there is no dictionary of nonverbal cues and there is no reliable link between NVC and lie detection.
Much like in #3, a main point of the article supported by much of the research referenced is that speech is more telling for lie detection than nonverbal communication. Speech, if observed by a trained professional, is more diagnostic as a lie signal. The nonverbal signals we see as signs of lying are in fact red herrings. The authors also discuss possible future directions for research that move away from the tenuous and unreliable connection between NVC and lie detection.
Relevance
This article attempts to convince people that face masks, something that minimizes their access to NVC, are not actually harmful to their lie-detection abilities. With the widespread belief that NVC is more reliable than speech behaviors, it will be hard to convince people. On top of that challenge, political tensions surrounding masks (as ridiculous as they are) would almost certainly play a part in how jurors perceive defendants, at least on some level. The mask has become a very divisive political symbol in the US. I think that masks should be mandatory in courtrooms, because of the medical reasoning to keep germs to yourself, because it eliminates the bias that could result from the choice, and because it shadows nonverbal cues that are misleading. All of those would only give a clearer picture to the jurors, as long as vocal clarity can be maintained. The authors note that eye gaze, a major signal people look at to determine trustworthiness, is still an observable factor.
What I Learned
A question I asked while reading this article was: with the preponderance of evidence that proves mainstream conceptions of nonverbal lie detection, do facemasks and /or virtual forums create a fairer playing field from the accused?
I found interest in the statistic saying the only somewhat reliable nonverbal cues to deception were genuine smiles. Lie-tellers exhibited fewer genuine smiles than truth-tellers. The authors caveat that laypersons are unlikely to be able to distinguish between genuine smiles and fake smiles. That requires training that jurors do not have. The way the article ends is great. I thought the authors' advice on juror instructions was pretty sound so as to not cause undue attention to verbal cues in judges’ efforts to minimize reliance on the nonverbal. Subtly is key in that transition to avoid overcorrection.
The finding mentioned that observers viewing video are more critical of the subject and more readily judge a sender as being deceptive on screen was intriguing. What other implications might that bit of data have? What came to mind for me was the recent Johnny Depp/Amber Heard courtroom saga. Amber Heard was eviscerated by everyone. Her every move was analyzed by thousands. The “evidence” of her “lies” was unavoidable. I just think it was a horrible match and they both have problems with addiction. I do not think that should have been televised, which touches on another concern I have dealing with live streaming or televising court cases.
Entry 5: Teachers’ Nonverbal Behaviors Influence Children’s Stereotypic Beliefs
Article Listing
Brey E, Pauker K. Teachers' nonverbal behaviors influence children's stereotypic
beliefs. J Exp Child Psychol. 2019 Dec;188:104671. doi: 10.1016/j.jecp.2019.104671.
Epub 2019 Aug 30. PMID: 31476615; PMCID: PMC6768726.
Summary
This article out of Hawai’i details an experiment aimed at expanding the current research on the early development of biases in school children. The authors discuss studies that show the importance of teacher NVC in determining “friend, bully, leader, or smart” status in children’s social structure during early development (sometimes as soon as kindergarten). They also discuss how biases are communicated through nonverbal behavior. The authors conducted a study with just under 100 subjects between 5-8 years old. The results tell us that children are sensitive to teachers' nonverbal patterns, that those patterns influence group stereotypes, and that positive nonverbal behavior influences the perception of group-level smartness. The authors also found that teachers’ nonverbal behavior does not influence group preferences, nor does it alter decisions of friendship.
In terms of formatting, the authors are by-the-book with double-spaced lines and heading choices. The exception is their inclusion of a highlights page where they list five one-sentence points they want to stress in their findings. I like this better than the more traditional inclusion of highlighted points in paragraph form in the introduction. It is very clear and in line with plain language guidelines. This inclusion can help to balance text-heavy articles.
Relevance
The authors are expanding on current research as detailed in the summary above, but they are also commenting on where research is lacking and some possible directions in which future research could go. The authors conclude the article by stating how important it is to produce further study to understand “how classroom context could be used to promote academic success and emotional well-being.”
During the description of the experiment, researchers describe their motivation behind using a novel group design. They did not want to teach children about existing groups (real-world groups). I appreciated the authors stating the reasoning behind using that paradigm.
What I Learned
Something I found very enlightening was that much of the research that has been done in this area centers around the majority group. This is something I have been noticing in my studies progressing toward my MFA in Communications. I think there is a wave of communications research being done into dimensions of the focus on majority groups in past research and I hope a balancing of the scales in regard to representation and consideration in scientific research.
The authors mention that little research has been done to look at how children acquire negative beliefs about their own group. They cite research suggesting that children from positively and negatively stereotyped groups are aware of their own group’s cultural stereotypes. Positive groups are aware of stereotypes that favor them and negative groups are aware of the same disfavor in their own groups. This proves how easily transmittable prejudices and stereotypes are, especially among the young. The teacher/student relationship is one of the firsts where children experience how one person treats groups of people in a constant, observable way. This research deserves more attention if only to underline the importance of teachers monitoring their NVC with their students, especially elementary school teachers.
Another interesting point was their choice to monitor whether children generalize preferences and stereotypes to new group members and whether a child’s own group membership affects the acquisition of nonverbally transmitted group biases and stereotypes. The authors even note how surprising it was to see that the control group performed at chance. I think their explanation that students did not absorb the nonverbal cues due to them not being relevant to the (control) child was the most sound. In other words, the (control) child did not belong to the positive or negative groups and did not view the information as important because of that fact. A sign of a good article is that it makes you ask questions about further research or different aspects of the research. This makes me wonder about the self-centered origin of stereotypes. The authors observed that positive groups preferred their group members to be friends with whereas negative groups did not show a preference. In early development, positively stereotyped groups seem to latch on to the social structure as a reason they (and their group members) are better than others. This is seemingly “objective” (if unconscious) to them as they are observing information and forming conclusions. If left unchecked and in many cases encouraged, this imprint can solidify into an almost unprogrammable prejudice or stereotype. There is much research on the deprogramming of child or adult cult victims or extremists that this could be applicable to.
Final Thoughts
As NVC knowledge and cues become more mainstream (whether scientific or pseudoscientific), the way those interactions happen will change too as that knowledge affects how people act. The knowledge will influence the way individuals self-present. Especially if examined in high-stress environments and contexts.
Confident liars could use the false confidence people have in NVC lie detection to throw suspicion off of themselves. This information is readily available to anyone who looks and is particularly troubling in criminal justice contexts. If criminals are aware of the cues investigators are looking for, they can appear innocent to the investigator. If they are aware that these training programs give false confidence to the investigator, the danger of manipulation of law enforcement is even higher.
Should we limit juror access to nonverbal communication? Regardless of how feasible that would be… From the research, NVC can impair juror assessment of witnesses and defendants. If jurors are only able to hear what is going on, would they make a more unbiased judgment? I think this is most certainly an area that should be studied more in-depth.
One more final thought that was with me throughout all of my reading on NVC and lie detection… Are the NVC diagnosed “lie-tellers” in these interrogatory examples just people who suffer from anxiety?