The effects of cognitive load and lying types on deception cues

Abstract

Over the last decade, inducing cognitive load has been introduced as a possible lie detection technique (Vrij, et al., 2006). Evidence suggests that lying is a cognitively taxing task; therefore, increasing a deceiver’s cognitive demands should make lying even more difficult, and true deception cues should become apparent. The present study investigated various behavioural cues that occurred between individuals who lied by omission or falsification. Cognitive load was used to amplify deception cues within subjects on half of the interview questions. It was predicted that there would be differences between cues based on deception type. The findings in the present study have revealed a main effect of cognitive load and a main effect of lying type. There was no interaction effect between cognitive load and falsification. The individual deception cues that were responsible for the variance are identified and implications for deception detection research and law enforcement are discussed.