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An Overview of Detecting Deceptive Communication

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The Palgrave Handbook of Deceptive Communication

Abstract

This chapter provides a state of the art overview of theory and research on human deception detection. Key terms are defined and major theoretical approaches to human deception detection are summarized. The literature review is divided into traditional pre-2006 findings and more recent findings examining new approaches to human lie detection. Until recently, deception detection experiments provided very consistent results. People were just a bit over chance at distinguishing truths from lies. More recent research has suggested approaches to improving accuracy. Improved accuracy can be obtained by the strategic use of evidence, content in context, diagnostic questioning, projecting motives, and persuading people to be honest.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA

    Timothy R. Levine

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  1. Timothy R. Levine
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Correspondence to Timothy R. Levine .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Communication Studies, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, La Crosse, WI, USA

    Tony Docan-Morgan

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Levine, T.R. (2019). An Overview of Detecting Deceptive Communication. In: Docan-Morgan, T. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Deceptive Communication. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96334-1_15

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