Former CIA officer Michele Rigby Assad has outlined 8 key behavioural signs to spot a liar, according to reports. From establishing a baseline posture to observing physical barriers, intelligence handlers rely on behavioural clusters rather than single visual cues.
Former undercover CIA officer Michele Rigby Assad has laid out the tell-tale psychological and behavioral signs that indicate when someone is lying. She explains how intelligence handlers identify deceit during high-stakes interrogations. Business Insider and Hindustan Times reports that spotting a lie is not about finding a single visual tell but rather about tracking small physical changes against a person’s baseline behaviour.
“Effective lie detection begins long before you even ask a sensitive or high-stakes question,” said Assad, who has spent more than a decade evaluating sources throughout the Middle East. Intelligence officers begin by developing a full behavioral baseline, carefully observing how someone acts, moves and speaks when in a comfortable environment. So the first sign of a deception happening is any sudden change from this normal baseline.
Identifying Clusters of Behaviour and Establishing Baselines
Interrogators look for clusters of non-verbal and verbal changes rather than isolated gestures such as fidgeting or avoiding eye contact, which can easily be misattributed to general anxiety. The most important part of this analytical process is to develop clear baselines. If a given question elicits multiple physical cues simultaneously, the odds of deception shoot up dramatically.
For intelligence professionals, physical space is often a direct reflection of mental discomfort during an evaluation. When people are pushed to uncomfortable topics, deceptive people tend to engage in subconscious self-soothing or protective behaviors. For example, one time Assad said a suspect would tightly hug a cushion every time a certain country was mentioned in the interrogation room. Internal stress, Assad said, manifests itself outwardly.
Subconscious Actions
Subconscious actions can be hugging things, physical barriers like putting cans on a table or sudden physical evasion. Such physical behaviours become involuntary mechanisms that people employ in an effort to deal with psychological tension on a sensitive line of questioning.