Abstract
Videoconferencing (VC) is changing the way people communicate in a variety of fields including education, medicine, business, and even interpersonal relationships. In this study, we investigate the effects of the modality of communication, whether through face-to-face (FtF) or VC, on the ability of interactants to develop and maintain nonverbal synchrony. This study is an analysis of 101 interviews between students and professional interviewers in which some of the participants were induced to cheat on a task with a confederate. The results revealed that the VC modality hampered the interactional synchrony of the dyads, especially during the phases of questioning when suspicion-inducing or accusatory questioning was used. For global ratings of synchrony, the greatest impact of modality was for participants whose lies were not sanctioned by the interviewer, suggesting that the VC modality negatively affected the most skilled deceivers. In addition, interactional synchrony improved in the final, accusatory, phase of the interview when subjects confessed, particularly in the FtF modality. The effects of the interviewer and the question type are also discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
Analyses were conducted on the total counts of synchrony behaviors but as this was redundant with the results of global synchrony and the individual codes allowed for a more nuanced analysis, they are not reported here.
A score of 1 on the transformed counts indicates that there were no recorded observations of synchrony.
It should be noted that interviewer effects were controlled in all subsequent analyses but, due to space considerations, are not reported here.
References
Antonacci, D. J., Bloch, R. M., Saeed, S. A., Yildirim, Y., & Talley, J. (2008). Empirical evidence on the use and effectiveness of telepsychiatry via videoconferencing: Implications for forensic and correctional psychiatry. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 26(3), 253–269.
Biocca, F., Harms, C., & Burgoon, J. K. (2003). Toward a more robust theory and measure of social presence: Review and suggested criteria. Presence: Teleoperators & Virtual Environments, 12(5), 456–480. doi:10.1162/105474603322761270.
Burgoon, J. K., Dunbar, N. E., & White, C. (in press). Interpersonal adaptation. In C. R. Berger (Ed.), Interpersonal communication: Handbook of communication science. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.
Burgoon, J. K., Stern, L. A., & Dillman, L. (1995). Interpersonal adaptation: Dyadic interaction patterns. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Cappella, J. N. (1990). The method of proof by example in interaction analysis. Communication Monographs, 57, 236–242.
Cappella, J. N. (1991). Mutual adaptation and relativity of measurement. In B. Montgomery & S. Duck (Eds.), Studying interpersonal interaction (pp. 103–117). New York: Guilford.
Cappella, J. N. (1997a). Behavioral and judged coordination in adult informal social interactions: Vocal and kinesic indicators. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72, 119–131. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.72.1.119.
Cappella, J. N. (1997b). The development of theory about automated patterns of face-to-face human interaction. In G. Philipsen & T. L. Albrecht (Eds.), Developing communication theories (pp. 57–83). Albany: State University of New York Press.
Davies, M. (2007). Bypassing the Hague evidence convention: Private international law implications of the use of video and audio conferencing technology in transnational litigation. The American Journal of Comparative Law, 55, 205–237.
Dunbar, N. E., Banas, J. A., Rodriguez, D., Liu, S.-J., & Abra, G. (2012). Humor use in power-differentiated interactions. Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 24(4), 469–489. doi:10.1515/humor-2012-0025.
Dunbar, N. E., Jensen, M. L., Kelley, K. M., Robertson, K. J., Bernard, D. R., Adame, B. J., et al. (2013). Effects of veracity, modality and sanctioning on credibility assessment during mediated and unmediated interviews. Communication Research. doi:10.1177/0093650213480175.
Freeman, M. F., & Tukey, J. W. (1950). Transformations related to the angular and the square root. The Annals of Mathematical Statistics, 21(4), 607–611.
Fuller, R. M., & Dennis, A. R. (2009). Does fit matter? The impact of task-technology fit and appropriation on team performance in repeated tasks. Information Systems Research, 20(1), 2–17.
Gallois, C., Ogay, T., & Giles, H. (2005). Communication accommodation theory: A look back and a look ahead. In W. B. Gudykunst (Ed.), Theorizing about intercultural communication (pp. 121–148). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Giles, H. (2008). Communication accommodation theory. In L. A. Baxter & D. O. Braithewaite (Eds.), Engaging theories in interpersonal communication: Multiple perspectives (pp. 161–173). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Gouldner, A. W. (1960). The norm of reciprocity: A preliminary statement. American Sociological Review, 25, 161–178.
Inbau, F., Reid, J., Buckley, J., & Jayne, B. (2013). Criminal interrogation and confessions (5th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Kleinman, S. M. (2006). KUBARK counterintelligence interrogation review: Observations of an interrogator. lessons learned and avenues for further research. In R. Swensen (Ed.), Educing information: interrogation–science and art. (Vol. Phase 1 Report, pp. 95–113). Washington, DC: NDIC Press.
Lawson, T., & Comber, C. (2010). Videoconferencing in English schools: One technology, many pedagogies? Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 19(3), 315–326.
Levenson, R. W. (1996). Biological substrates of empathy and facial modulation of emotion: Two facets of the scientific legacy of John Lanzetta. Motivation and Emotion, 20(3), 185–204.
Levine, T. R., Kim, R. K., Park, H. S., & Hughes, M. (2006). Deception detection accuracy is a predictable linear function of message veracity base-rate: A formal test of Park and Levine’s probability model. Communication Monographs, 73(3), 243–260. doi:10.1080/03637750600873736.
Levine, T. R., Shaw, A., & Shulman, H. C. (2010). Increasing deception detection accuracy with strategic questioning. Human Communication Research, 36(2), 216–231.
Lewis, D., Tranter, G., & Axford, A. T. (2009). Use of videoconferencing in Wales to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, travel costs and time. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, 15(3), 137–138.
Lowden, R. J., & Hostetter, C. (2012). Access, utility, imperfection: The impact of videoconferencing on perceptions of social presence. Computers in Human Behavior, 28, 377–383.
McHenry, L., & Bozik, M. (1995). Communicating at a distance: A study of interaction in a distance education classroom. Communication Education, 44(4), 362–371.
Meservy, T. O. (2010). CBAS 2.0: software tools to code human nonverbal behavior. Paper presented at the Center for Identification Technology Research spring conference, Skaneateles Falls, NY.
Meyers, L. S., Gamst, G., & Guarino, A. J. (2006). Applied multivariate research: Design and interpretation. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Roberts, D., Wolff, R., Rae, J., Steed, A., Aspin, R., McIntyre, M., et al. (2009). Communicating eye-gaze across a distance: Comparing an eye-gaze enabled immersive collaborative virtual environment, aligned video conferencing, and being together. Paper presented at the IEEE virtual reality conference, Lafayette, LA. doi:10.1109/VR.2009.4811013.
Snedecor, G. W., & Cochran, W. G. (1980). Statistical methods (7th ed.). Ames IA: Iowa State University Press.
Taylor, T. (2011). Video conferencing vs talking face-to-face: Is video suitable for supportive dialogue? International Journal of Therapy and Rehabilitation, 18(7), 392–403.
Vrij, A., Mann, S., Kristen, S., & Fisher, R. P. (2007). Cues to deception and ability to detect lies as a function of police interview styles. Law and Human Behavior, 31(5), 499–518.
Walther, J. B. (2011). Visual cues in computer-mediated communication: Sometimes less is more. In A. Kappas & N. C. Krämer (Eds.), Face-to-face communication over the internet: Emotions in a web of culture, language, and technology (pp. 17–38). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Warmelink, L., Vrij, A., Mann, S., Jundi, S., & Granhag, P. A. (2012). The effect of question expectedness and experience on lying about intentions. Acta Psychologica, 141(2), 178–183. doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2012.07.011.
Warmelink, L., Vrij, A., Mann, S., Leal, S., & Poletiek, F. H. (2013). The effects of unexpected questions on detecting familiar and unfamiliar lies. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 20(1), 29–35. doi:10.1080/13218719.2011.619058.
Webster, J. (1998). Desktop videoconferencing: Experiences of complete users, wary users, and non-users. MIS Quarterly, 22(3), 257–286.
Acknowledgments
This research was funded by a grant from the Center for Information Technology Research, a National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center. The authors would like to thank their student research assistants, Bradley Adame, Kylie J. Harrison, Katherine M. Kelley, Lindsey Harvell, and Abigail Allums Kauffman for their assistance with the coding and data collection.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dunbar, N.E., Jensen, M.L., Tower, D.C. et al. Synchronization of Nonverbal Behaviors in Detecting Mediated and Non-mediated Deception. J Nonverbal Behav 38, 355–376 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10919-014-0179-z
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10919-014-0179-z