SPY THE LIE


Southeastern National Tuberculosis Center

University of Florida
November 11, 2014

Suspect

Is she lying or telling the truth?

Spy the Lie

Keys to Success
• Analyze vs. speculate
• Manage your bias
• Recognize evasiveness
• Beware of aggression
• Differentiate between convince vs.
convey
• Know what non-verbal cues mean
 Analyze vs. Speculate
• Disregard “global” behaviors
• Identify the stimulus
• Focus on behaviors directly associated
with the response
• Rely on:
– Timing
– Clusters

Timing
Question Answer
(stimulus) (response)

0 1 2 3 4 5 Seconds

Initial deceptive behavior must begin within the first five seconds

Clusters
Question Answer
(stimulus) (response)

0 1 2 3 4 5 Seconds

Start of deceptive verbal and non-verbal behaviors

= Verbal = Non-Verbal
 Manage Your Bias
• Ignore truthful behavior
• Avoid fundamental attribution errors
• Understand your “halo” & “pitchfork”
tendencies

Recognize Evasiveness
• Failure to provide information asked for
• Failure to deny
• Use of exclusionary qualifier(s)
• Selective memory
• Refusal to answer

Beware of Aggression
• Attacking the questioner
• Attacking 3rd party
• Demonstrating an inappropriate level of
concern
 Differentiate Between
Convince vs. Convey
• Convincing statements
• Referral statements
• Invoking religion
• Perception qualifiers

Know What Non-verbal

Cues Mean
• Behavioral pause
• Verbal/non-verbal disconnect
• Anchor point movements
• Grooming gestures
• Hiding mouth or eyes

Behavioral Cautions
• Eye contact
• Closed posture
• General nervous tension
• Pre-emptive responses
• Blushing/flushing
• Clenched hands or steepling
• Facial tics/twitch
• Base-lining
 Phil Houston
• CEO, QVerity, Inc.
• Former CIA officer (25 years)
• Expert and leading authority on detection of deception,
interviewing, and interrogation
• Extensive interview, interrogation, and investigative
experience in criminal, counter-intelligence, counter-terrorism,
and national security cases
• Conducted investigations and screening for Forbes Top 10
Richest Families
• Former CIA investigator and polygraph examiner
• Recipient of CIA’s Career Intelligence Medal
• Co-author of NY Times bestseller “Spy the Lie”
• Co-founder of Business Intelligence Advisors
• BA in Political Science, East Carolina University