Can you really tell if a kid is lying? | Kang Lee

翻译人员: Gu Yu 校对人员: Karen Feuerstein

Hi.

大家好

Let me ask the audience a question:

我先问大家一个问题：

Did you ever lie as a child?

作为一个孩子的时候您撒过谎么？

If you did, could you please raise your hand?

如果有过 可以举手么？

Wow! This is the most honest group of people I've ever met.

天啊！这是我 遇见过的最诚实的一群人

(Laughter)

（笑声）

So for the last 20 years,

在过去的二十年，

I've been studying how children learn to tell lies.

我一直在研究孩子们如何学会撒谎。

And today, I'm going to share with you

今天我将与给分享

some of the discoveries we have made.

我们的一些成果。

But to begin, I'm going to tell you a story from Mr. Richard Messina,

不过首先我想先讲一个 理查德·梅西纳先生的故事。

who is my friend and an elementary school principal.

他是我的朋友 也是一名小学校长。

He got a phone call one day.

一天他接到了一通电话

The caller says,

来电的人说，

"Mr. Messina, my son Johnny will not come to school today

“梅西纳先生，我的孩子乔尼 今天不去学校了

because he's sick."

因为他生病了。“

Mr. Messina asks,

梅西纳先生问道

"Who am I speaking to, please?"

”请问您是谁？“

And the caller says,

来电的人说：

"I am my father."

”我是我爸爸。“

(Laughter)

（笑声）

So this story --

所以这个故事--

(Laughter)

（笑声）

sums up very nicely three common beliefs we have

很好的总结了三个我们

about children and lying.

对于孩子撒谎的常识。

One, children only come to tell lies

第一，孩子通常在上小学后

after entering elementary school.

开始撒谎。

Two, children are poor liars.

第二，孩子不会撒谎

We adults can easily detect their lies.

成人可以简单地识破他们。

And three, if children lie at a very young age,

第三，如果孩子很早就开始撒谎

there must be some character flaws with them,

那么他们一定有一些人格缺陷，

and they are going to become pathological liars for life.

并且一生都将是病态的撒谎者。

Well, it turns out

然而结果是，

all of the three beliefs are wrong.

这三个认识都是错的

We have been playing guessing games

之前我们一直和全世界的

with children all over the world.

孩子们一起玩竞猜游戏。

Here is an example.

这里有一个例子。

So in this game, we asked children to guess the numbers on the cards.

在这个游戏中， 我们请孩子们猜测卡片上的数字。

And we tell them if they win the game,

并告诉他们如果他们猜中了，

they are going to get a big prize.

他们会得到丰厚的奖励。

But in the middle of the game,

在游戏的中间，

we make an excuse and leave the room.

我们会借故离开。

And before we leave the room,

离开前会告诉孩子们

we tell them not to peek at the cards.

不要去偷偷看卡片。

Of course,

当然了，

we have hidden cameras in the room

隐藏的摄像头在房间

to watch their every move.

观察孩子们的一举一动。

Because the desire to win the game is so strong,

因为孩子太想赢这个游戏，

more than 90 percent of children will peek

超过90%的孩子在我们离开后马上

as soon as we leave the room.

偷偷看了卡片。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

The crucial question is:

关键的问题是：

When we return and ask the children

当然们回来并且问孩子们

whether or not they have peeked,

他们是否偷看了卡片时，

will the children who peeked confess

那些偷看了卡片的孩子

or lie about their transgression?

会承认他们违反了游戏规则么？

We found that regardless of gender, country, religion,

我们发现无论 性别 国籍 宗教信仰

at two years of age,

30%的2岁孩子

30 percent lie,

撒谎了。

70 percent tell the truth about their transgression.

70%承认了他们违反游戏规则。

At three years of age,

三岁的孩子中，

50 percent lie and 50 percent tell the truth.

撒谎的人占了50%。

At four years of age,

四岁的孩子

more than 80 percent lie.

超过80%都在撒谎。

And after four years of age,

大于四岁的孩子

most children lie.

绝大部分都在撒谎。

So as you can see,

如您所见，

lying is really a typical part of development.

撒谎是成长典型的一部分。

And some children begin to tell lies

很多孩子在2岁的时候

as young as two years of age.

就已经学会了撒谎。

So now, let's take a closer look at the younger children.

现在我们仔细研究小孩子。

Why do some but not all young children lie?

为什么不是所有的孩子都撒谎？

In cooking, you need good ingredients

在烹饪领域想做出好的食物

to cook good food.

需要好的原料。

And good lying requires two key ingredients.

一个好的谎言需要两个关键的原料。

The first key ingredient is theory of mind,

第一个是心智理论，

or the mind-reading ability.

换言之读心的能力。

Mind reading is the ability to know

读心能力是一种

that different people have different knowledge about the situation

知道相同情况下 不同的人知道不同的事情的能力，

and the ability to differentiate between what I know

是一种 可以区分我知道什么

and what you know.

和你知道什么的能力。

Mind reading is important for lying

读心在撒谎时能力很重要

because the basis of lying is that I know

因为撒谎从根本上说

you don't know

就是我知道你不知道

what I know.

我知道。

Therefore, I can lie to you.

因此我的谎言成功了。

The second key ingredient for good lying is self-control.

第二个撒谎的 关键因素是自我控制

It is the ability to control your speech, your facial expression

控制语言 控制面部表情

and your body language,

控制身体动作。

so that you can tell a convincing lie.

这样的谎言才让人信服。

And we found that those young children

我们发现那些小孩子中

who have more advanced mind-reading and self-control abilities

读心能力和自我控制能力更强的

tell lies earlier

更早开始说谎

and are more sophisticated liars.

也成为了更老练的撒谎者。

As it turns out, these two abilities are also essential for all of us

事实证明 这两种能力

to function well in our society.

在社会中也是至关重要的。

In fact, deficits in mind-reading and self-control abilities

并且读心能力和自我控制能力不足

are associated with serious developmental problems,

经常和一些严重的 发展问题 比如多动症和自闭症

such as ADHD and autism.

联系在一起。

So if you discover your two-year-old is telling his or her first lie,

所以当你发现你二岁的孩子开始撒谎

instead of being alarmed,

不要惊慌

you should celebrate --

你应该庆幸

(Laughter)

（笑声）

because it signals that your child has arrived at a new milestone

这意味着你的孩子进入了 典型发展的

of typical development.

新的里程碑。

Now, are children poor liars?

那么 孩子不会撒谎么？

Do you think you can easily detect their lies?

你可以轻易的识破他们的谎言么？

Would you like to give it a try?

你愿意试试么？

Yes? OK.

愿意？好的

So I'm going to show you two videos.

我将要给各位看两段视频。

In the videos,

视频中

the children are going to respond to a researcher's question,

孩子们将会回答研究者的问题

"Did you peek?"

“你偷看了卡片么？”

So try to tell me

试着告诉我

which child is lying

哪一个孩子撒谎

and which child is telling the truth.

那一个孩子说真话。

Here's child number one.

这是第一个孩子。

Are you ready?

准备好了么？

(Video) Adult: Did you peek? Child: No.

（视频）-你撒谎了么？-没有。

Kang Lee: And this is child number two.

这是第二个孩子

(Video) Adult: Did you peek? Child: No.

（视频）-你撒谎了么？-没有。

KL: OK, if you think child number one is lying,

认为第一个孩子撒谎的，

please raise your hand.

请举手。

And if you think child number two is lying, please raise your hand.

认为第二个孩子撒谎的， 请举手

OK, so as a matter of fact,

事实上，

child number one is telling the truth,

第一个孩子说的是真话

child number two is lying.

第二个孩子在撒谎

Looks like many of you are terrible detectors of children's lies.

看起来大家完全无法识破 孩子的谎言。

(Laughter)

（笑声)

Now, we have played similar kinds of games

现在我们给很多

with many, many adults from all walks of life.

从事各种行业的成年人

And we show them many videos.

播放类似的视频。

In half of the videos, the children lied.

视频中一半的孩子撒谎了。

In the other half of the videos, the children told the truth.

另一半的孩子讲了真话。

And let's find out how these adults performed.

让我们看看成人识破谎言的表现。

Because there are as many liars as truth tellers,

因为说真话和假话的孩子各一半，

if you guess randomly,

如果你随机的猜，

there's a 50 percent chance you're going to get it right.

你的正确率差不多50%。

So if your accuracy is around 50 percent,

所以如果你的准确率在50%左右，

it means you are a terrible detector of children's lies.

说明你看不出孩子的谎言。

So let's start with undergrads and law school students,

我们先从和小孩子的交集

who typically have limited experience with children.

有限的本科生和法学院学生开始。

No, they cannot detect children's lies.

不 他们看不出孩子撒谎了，

Their performance is around chance.

他们只是随机的猜测。

Now how about social workers and child-protection lawyers,

那么每天和孩子打交道的

who work with children on a daily basis?

社会工作者和保护儿童的律师 做得如何呢？

Can they detect children's lies?

他们可以分辨孩子的谎言么？

No, they cannot.

不他们不能。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

What about judges,

法官呢？

customs officers

海关官员，

and police officers,

或者警察呢？

who deal with liars on a daily basis?

他们每天都在面对谎言，

Can they detect children's lies?

他们可以看出孩子撒谎么？

No, they cannot.

不他们不能。

What about parents?

父母呢？

Can parents detect other children's lies?

父母可以看出别的孩子撒谎么？

No, they cannot.

不他们不能。

What about, can parents detect their own children's lies?

那么父母可以看出 自己的孩子撒谎么？

No, they cannot.

不还是不能。

(Laughter) (Applause)

（笑声）（掌声）

So now you may ask

现在你可能会问

why children's lies are so difficult to detect.

为什么孩子的谎言不容易被识破?

Let me illustrate this with my own son, Nathan.

让我用我的儿子内森来说明。

This is his facial expression

这是他撒谎时

when he lies.

的面部表情。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

So when children lie,

所以孩子撒谎是

their facial expression is typically neutral.

他们的面部表情是很自然的。

However, behind this neutral expression,

然而在自然的表情背后

the child is actually experiencing a lot of emotions,

孩子在体验一系列的感情

such as fear, guilt, shame

有害怕，内疚，羞耻

and maybe a little bit of liar's delight.

也许还有一点骗人的喜悦。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Unfortunately, such emotions are either fleeting or hidden.

可是这些表情或一闪而过 或被隐藏的很好

Therefore, it's mostly invisible to us.

对于我们来说很难捕捉。

So in the last five years,

所以过去的五年中

we have been trying to figure out a way to reveal these hidden emotions.

我们一直在寻找 挖掘隐藏的表情的办法。

Then we made a discovery.

后来我们有了发现。

We know that underneath our facial skin,

我们知道在脸的皮肤下面

there's a rich network of blood vessels.

是丰富的血管网络。

When we experience different emotions,

在我们经历不同的情感的时候，

our facial blood flow changes subtly.

我们面部血液流动也会稍微改变。

And these changes are regulated by the autonomic system

这些改变受自动系统的控制

that is beyond our conscious control.

人为无法刻意改变。

By looking at facial blood flow changes,

通过观察面部血液流动变化，

we can reveal people's hidden emotions.

我们可以发现人们隐藏的表情。

Unfortunately, such emotion-related facial blood flow changes

不过这种情感相关的 血液流动

are too subtle to detect by our naked eye.

太过于微小以至于肉眼无法看到。

So to help us reveal people's facial emotions,

所以我们设计了新的图像技术

we have developed a new imaging technology

来帮助我们捕捉人们的面部表情。

we call "transdermal optical imaging."

我们叫它“透皮光学成像”。

To do so, we use a regular video camera to record people

我们用普通的镜头记录

when they experience various hidden emotions.

正在经历着各种隐藏的感情的人

And then, using our image processing technology,

然后使用图像处理技术

we can extract transdermal images of facial blood flow changes.

我们可以通过观察经皮视频，

By looking at transdermal video images,

提取面部血液流动的经皮图像。

now we can easily see

现在我们可以清楚地看到

facial blood flow changes associated with the various hidden emotions.

由于各种隐藏的表情 造成的血液流动。

And using this technology,

使用这个技术

we can now reveal the hidden emotions associated with lying,

我们可以判断 与撒谎相关的隐藏表情

and therefore detect people's lies.

进而识破人们的谎言。

We can do so noninvasively,

我们可以在 不侵害被试者的情况下

remotely, inexpensively,

远程地 廉价地进行操作

with an accuracy at about 85 percent,

并且有85%的准确率，

which is far better than chance level.

比随机要好得多。

And in addition, we discovered a Pinocchio effect.

此外我们发现了匹诺曹现象。

No, not this Pinocchio effect.

不不不不是这个现象。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

This is the real Pinocchio effect.

这是真的匹诺曹现象。

When people lie,

当人们撒谎时，

the facial blood flow on the cheeks decreases,

脸颊的面部血液流动减少

and the facial blood flow on the nose increases.

鼻子的血液流动增加。

Of course, lying is not the only situation

当然撒谎并不是

that will evoke our hidden emotions.

激发隐藏表情的唯一情况。

So then we asked ourselves,

所以我们思考，

in addition to detecting lies,

除了测试谎言之外，

how can our technology be used?

这项技术还可以用来做什么？

One application is in education.

在教育领域可以应用这门技术。

For example, using this technology, we can help this mathematics teacher

比如使用这项技术可以帮助 这位数学老师

to identify the student in his classroom

发现那些教室里对于他讲的内容

who may experience high anxiety about the topic he's teaching

深感焦虑的学生。

so that he can help him.

这可以很好地帮助老师。

And also we can use this in health care.

这门技术同时可以用在健康护理上。

For example, every day I Skype my parents,

比如 每天我和离我几千公里

who live thousands of miles away.

的父母Skype，

And using this technology,

使用这门技术，

I can not only find out what's going on in their lives

我不仅可以知道他们那里发生了什么

but also simultaneously monitor their heart rate, their stress level,

同时我可以监测他们的心率 紧张程度

their mood and whether or not they are experiencing pain.

他们的情绪或者是否处于痛苦之中。

And perhaps in the future,

也许将来

their risks for heart attack or hypertension.

心脏病和高血压的风险 也可以被检测出来

And you may ask:

也许你会问：

Can we use this also to reveal politicians' emotions?

我们可以识破政客的表情么？

(Laughter)

（笑声）

For example, during a debate.

比如在辩论中的表情

Well, the answer is yes.

是的我们可以。

Using TV footage,

使用电视新闻片段，

we could detect the politicians' heart rate,

我们可以检测政客的心率，

mood and stress,

情绪紧张程度，

and perhaps in the future, whether or not they are lying to us.

也许将来也可以判断他们是否在说谎。

We can also use this in marketing research,

这项技术也可以用于市场调查，

for example, to find out

比如去探究

whether or not people like certain consumer products.

人们喜不喜欢特定的消费产品。

We can even use it in dating.

我们甚至可以用在约会上。

So for example,

比如，

if your date is smiling at you,

如果你的约会对象对你笑，

this technology can help you to determine

这门技术可以帮助你判断

whether she actually likes you

她是真的喜欢你

or she is just trying to be nice to you.

还是只是努力对你友善一些。

And in this case,

在这个照片中，

she is just trying to be nice to you.

她只是想对他友善一点。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

So transdermal optical imaging technology

所以透皮光学成像技术

is at a very early stage of development.

仅仅处于起步阶段。

Many new applications will come about that we don't know today.

将来会有更多 意想不到的新应用出现。

However, one thing I know for sure

然而我坚信

is that lying will never be the same again.

研究谎言的未来 将会因此变得不同。

Thank you very much.

谢谢大家

Xiè xie.

（中文）谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）