How to identify a liar: People tend to speak more slowly and put less emphasis in the middle of words when saying a fiber.
- The researchers synthesized voices that said words in different tones and tones
- This was to mimic the “sound signature” that people use when they lie or are honest.
- Then they had volunteers listen to sounds and rate the words as honest or dishonest
- They found slower speech and less emphasis was a signature for dishonesty
When someone tells a lie, they may catch it – because they are more likely to speak slowly and put less emphasis in the middle of words, according to a study.
Researchers at the Sorbonne University conducted a series of experiments to understand how we decide, based only on voice, if a speaker is honest.
They found that there is a signature in a liar’s voice – slower speech and less emphasis in the middle of a word – that the brain can automatically detect – even when it is not actively trying to determine whether someone is sincere or not.
It is hoped that the discovery could be used in the future to develop “light tools” that police could use to determine if a murderer is lying.
Researchers at the Sorbonne University conducted a series of experiments to understand how we decide, based only on voice, if a speaker is honest. Stock image
The authors of the study say that if you want to be considered honest and confident, then speak faster, put more intensity in the middle of a word and leave the tone at the end.
These subtle changes in the way we speak are recorded by the brain “automatically” and occur in several languages, including English, French and Spanish.
French researchers used voice signal processing to create random word pronunciations, including increasing and decreasing pitch.
Then they asked several groups of volunteers if the words were spoken with certainty or honesty.
The success of human cooperation depends on mechanisms that allow individuals to detect the unreliability of the people they deal with on a regular basis.
Despite being a vital part of human society, researchers do not know exactly what sensory inputs people use to determine the reliability of another.
To try to solve this, French researchers used a data-based method to decode the prosodic characteristics that determine the listeners’ perception of a certainty and honesty of the speakers over the duration and intensity of the tone.
“Here we show that listeners’ perceptions of the certainty and honesty of other speakers in their speech are based on a signature of common prosody,” they said.
The authors of the study say that if you want to be considered honest and confident, then speak faster, put more intensity in the middle of a word and leave the tone at the end. Stock image
Prosody refers to the “melody” of a phrase or word: its tone, rhythm and intensity.
“We find that these two types of judgments [certainty and honesty] it is based on a common prosodic signature, which is perceived independently of the conceptual knowledge and mother tongue of individuals “, wrote the authors of the study.
“Finally, we show that the listeners extract this prosodic signature automatically and that this affects the way they memorize the spoken words.
“These findings shed light on a unique auditory adaptation that allows human listeners to quickly detect and react to reliability during language interactions.”
They found that this “intrinsic” ability to detect “signatures” in a voice could be used to determine if the person was telling the truth or trafficking in pigs.
“Consequently, prosody conveys information about the value of the truth or the certainty of a proposal,” the team wrote.
Now they are trying to understand how speakers produce such prosody based on their intentions – rather than how people perceive different pronunciations.
The findings were published in the journal Nature Communications.