How To Tell Truth From Lies

Conventional wisdom long held that young children were not capable of lying. More recent research, however, has found that most children learn to lie effectively between the ages of 2 and 4. The first successful lie can be pegged as a developmental achievement because it marks the child's discovery that her mind and thinking are separate from her parents'. This same understanding is marked by the discovery of the word no, which helps young children delineate the boundaries between their own desires, thoughts, and feelings, and those of others.

From about age 4 on, children lie for many of the same reasons adults do: to avoid punishment, to gain an advantage, to protect against an unwanted consequence, and even to boost self-esteem. Youngsters, like adults, sometimes lie to demonstrate power, to maintain privacy, or to protect a friend. When a child lies, she is essentially trying to change a situation, to reconstruct things the way she wants them to be.

By age 4, children know the difference between telling the truth and lying — and they know it's wrong to lie. So, generally, they're truthful, and when they're not it's obvious. But they also become more proficient at lying because they're more cognitively capable of taking into account the listener's belief of their statement.

A barefaced  lie is one that is obviously a lie to those hearing it. A bold-faced lie, referring to a lie told with a straight and confident face (hence "bold-faced"), usually with the corresponding tone of voice and emphatic body language of one confidently speaking the truth.

Detecting deception is difficult because most people don't really want to know the truth.  The truth often hurts and many people go to great lengths to avoid acknowledging it (see, truth hurts).

Because of our tendency for self deception, many people would rather believe a pleasant lie rather than deal with an unpleasant truth, especially when it comes to love and romance.

Some subtle cues that often mean a person isn't being completely honest with you.

1. Nose touch: We have erectile tissues in our noses, which engorge with blood when we lie. The absence of a nose touch doesn't guarantee truth, but the presence of a nose touch often means deception. Of course, sometimes a person will touch his or her nose because of a non-deceptive cause, such as a cold. With some practice, you can quickly learn to distinguish a deceptive nose touch from something innocent.

2. Speech disturbances: When we lie, we force our brain to pretend that the lie is true, that the truth is a lie and simultaneously remember that the real truth is that each is the other. So when we lie, we pause longer and speak slower than normal and often experience speech disturbances that serve as gap fillers.

3. Neck rub: We rub our necks because of the stress we experience when we feel that an obstacle may be insurmountable.

4. Eye rub: An eye rub is an indicator of disbelief.  Many subordinates feel uneasy about disagreeing with the boss, but their bodies don't hesitate. Perceiving a potential problem and dealing with it early can be the difference between a simple misunderstanding and a business disaster.

The theory of "microexpressions"-the idea that when we lie brief, subconscious flashes of emotion register on our face to reveal our true feelings. People trained to pick up on these cues, can root out the truth with astonishing accuracy.

Making up a story and keeping the details straight require more mental horsepower than just telling the truth. Researchers have found that if interrogators can place an extra "cognitive load" on a liar's intellect they'll likely push it to breaking point and cause the story to fall apart.

So the key is not just to observe a suspected liar but to ask them the right kind of questions.

So if you want to get the truth, sit your suspected liar down for a chat and lay some cognitive load on them.

a- Ask them to tell the story in reverse.

b- Tell them to look you in the eye as they tell the story. It's a myth that liars can't look you in the eye-some may even do so more than usual.

c- Don't show what you know. By leaving the suspect guessing about how much you know, you'll force him to lie defensively-and hopefully, to give up facts you didn't already have.

d- Ask them to draw the scene. If you ask them to draw a picture of the scenario in question, they'll be forced to come up with additional visual details. Their pictures will be less detailed than a truth-teller's and may contradict what they've already told you.

Sources:
Truth About 
Scholastic
Psychology Today
blifalco
jdanxx
en.wikipedia
Psychology Today