THE TRUTH-DECEPTION ATTRIBUTION: EFFECTS OF FAMILIARITY ON THE ABILITY OF OBSERVERS TO DETECT DECEPTION

This study investigated the relationship between an observer's familiarity with the normal, truthful communicative behavior of an individual, and the observer's ability to detect deception on the part of that individual. Specifically, an attempt was made to provide an experimental test of the degree of linearity between familiarity and judgmental accuracy in detecting deception. After exposure to varying amounts of a communicator's normal, truthful behavior (baseline segment), observers made judgments of a communicator's veracity following observation of truthful or lying behavior (test segment). The results indicate a significant deviation from linearity in the relationship between familiarity and judgmental accuracy, and that the relationship is better described by an inverted parabolic curve (quadratic function). The possibility of information overload, the possibility of communicator-specific characteristics which provide clues to deception, and the possibility of observer fatigue were proposed as possible explanations of these results.     

Counselor Assertiveness and Therapeutic Effectiveness in Treating Depression

Counselor trainees who received assertiveness training were judged by supervisors to be more effective with depressed clients. Differences on other measures were not statistically significant.     

The Effects of Interpersonal Confrontation on Females

A three-component confrontation model was empirically tested with females. The results were consistently positive on all nine measures used with confronters of either gender.     

EXPLOITING PRAGMATIC RULES: DEVIOUS MESSAGES

Consideration of the relationship between semantics and pragmatics leads to a formal analysis of pragmatic implications customarily made by auditors in this culture. The analysis isolates four types of responses to yes-no demand questions: (1) explication, (2) prepositional implication, (3) relational implication, and (4) transparent question. It further shows how the latter three types can be exploited by devious communicators and proposes some possible social extensions of the system.