How to catch a liar (it’s harder than you think)

Rebecca figured out a brilliant way to catch her partner in a lie. It led to a career in forensic psychology…

These days, Rebecca studies lie detection, and it turns out, people generally overestimate their ability to tell fact from fiction. All the classic clues — body language, eye contact, acting nervous … they don't really hold up when put to the test.

In our fourth and final part of our special series, Forensic, we're discovering the truth about lie detection. Are there any giveaways that someone is lying to us? Can lying show up on a brain scan?

If you've enjoyed Forensic, please leave us a review or share the show with a friend.

And don't forget to send us your questions based on the series, you can reach us at allinthemind@abc.net.au

Guests:

Dr Rebecca WilcoxsonLecturer in Forensic and Social Psychology, CQ University

Dr Arthur LeeAssistant Professor, Boston University

Credits:

• Presenter/producer: Sana Qadar
• Senior producer: James Bullen
• Producer: Rose Kerr
• Sound engineer: Roi Huberman

You can catch up on more episodes of the All in the Mind podcast with journalist and presenter Sana Qadar, exploring the psychology of topics like stress, memory, communication and relationships on ABC Listen or wherever you get your podcasts.