Can you spot a lie? 6 Minute English

Rob: Hello. This is 6 Minute English.

I'm Rob.

Sam: And I'm Sam.

Rob: In this programme, we're talking

about biscuits.

Sam: Really? That's not what I was told...

oh hold on, you're lying.

Rob: Yes, you're right, Sam.

I am lying simply

to demonstrate our topic - lying and how

to detect it. You detected my lie

very easily, Sam!

Sam: I could tell by the smirk on your face

that you were telling a fib - that's the word

for a small, inoffensive lie.

Rob: To be honest, talking about

lie detecting will be

much more interesting than biscuits.

But first, let's start with a question

for you to answer.

A competition is held in Cumbria

in the UK every year to find and award

the title of "The Biggest Liar in the World".

But which type of people are not allowed

to take part?

a) Farmers, b) Lawyers,

or c) Estate agents.

What do you think, Sam?

Sam: I'd be lying if I said I knew - but

based on personal experience

I'd say estate agents

- they'd find it too easy!

Rob: Ha - well that's your opinion but I'll

let you know if you're right at the end of

the programme. So, lying is something I'm

sure a lot of us do - sometimes

to avoid trouble, sometimes to cheat

people, or sometimes just

to impress someone - did you know

I can speak seven languages, Sam?

Sam: That's just a barefaced lie, Rob!

But I can see how easy lying can be,

and that's what neuroscientist

Sophie Scott thinks. Here she is on

BBC Radio 4's 'Seriously' podcast,

explaining how we sometimes lie

just to be nice!

Sophie Scott: Often what we mean by

lying is someone setting out

to deceive us with their words

or their actions but actually normal

conversation probably can only happen

because we don't actually say all the time

exactly what we really think and

what we really mean. And that kind of

cooperation is at the heart, I think, of a

lot of social interactions for humans and

I think that's one of the strong pushes to

make conversation polite and therefore

frequently not actually truthful.

Rob: So Sophie mentions two types

of lying. There's the one when we try

to deceive someone - so that's

trying to hide something by tricking

someone to gain an advantage.

Sam: Hmm, that's like you getting me

to pay £10 for a cinema ticket

when actually they were only £5.

That's just dishonest, but there are also

what I like to call white lies

- small lies we tell to avoid upsetting

someone. Those are lies that

aren't intended to give

you an advantage.

Rob: Yes, Sophie Scott says we use them

in normal conversation - when we don't

say what we really mean.

Sam: So, we want to make conversation

polite because we want to cooperate

with each other - she says

cooperation is at the heart.

Something that's at the heart is

the most important or essential part.

Rob: Now telling lies is one thing but how

do you know if we're being lied to?

Sometimes there are telltale signs,

such as someone's face turning red

or someone shuffling their feet.

Sam: But if you really want to know if

someone is lying, maybe we should

listen to Richard Wiseman,

a psychologist at the University of

Hertfordshire. Here he is speaking on the

'Seriously' podcast...

Richard Wiseman: Liars in general say

less. They tend to have a longer

what's called response latency,

which is the time between

the end of the question

and the beginning of the answer.

And there also tends to be

an emotional distance in the lie - so

the words 'me','my', 'I' - all those things

tend to drop away in lies and it's

much much harder for liars to control

what they're saying and how they're

saying it, so focus your attention there,

you become a better lie detector.

Rob: Some good advice from

Richard Wiseman. So to detect lies

we need to listen out for

the response latency - a term

used in psychology to describe

the time taken between a stimulus

or question and a response to it.

The bigger the gap, the more chance

there is that someone is lying.

Is that a good summary, Sam?

Sam: Sort of, Rob. Richard also suggests

we focus on - or concentrate on - what

and how people are saying things too.

There's probably more to it than just that.

Rob: Well now you know how

to detect my lies, Sam, maybe

honestly is the best policy - as they say.

So I'm now going to give you an

honest answer to the question

I asked earlier. A competition is held

in Cumbria, in the UK,

every year to award the title of

"The Biggest Liar in the World".

But which type of people

are not allowed to take part?

a) Farmers, b) Lawyers,

or c) Estate agents?

Sam: I guessed c) estate agents.

Rob: And you are wrong,

I'm afraid. Lawyers,

as well as politicians, are not allowed to

enter the competition. It's claimed "they

are judged to be too skilled

at telling porkies" - porkies is an informal

word for 'pork pies'

and that rhymes with 'lies'.

Sam: Fascinating stuff, Rob and that's no

lie! But now, shall we recap some of the

vocabulary we've heard today?

Rob: Why not? A fib is

a small inoffensive lie.

Sam: A white lie is also a small lie,

told to avoid upsetting someone.

Rob: When you deceive someone,

you try to hide something by tricking

them to gain an advantage.

Sam: When something is

at the heart of something,

it is the most important or essential part

of it. And we heard

about response latency

- a term used in psychology to describe

the time taken between

a stimulus or question

and a response to it.

Rob: OK, thank you, Sam. That's all from 6

Minute English. We look forward to your

company next time. Goodbye!

Sam: Bye everyone!