Between thinking and speaking—Linguistic tools for detecting a fabrication

Abstract

This study describes the linguistic differences between the discourse of truth and discourse whose objective is to mislead. 1 1 The details of the research presented here may be found in my doctoral dissertation: Rakefet Dilmon, Linguistic differences between lie and truth in spoken Hebrew, written in fulfillment of the requirement for the granting of the Doctor of Philosophy degree, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel, 2004. The intention to mislead arouses cognitive and emotional functions in the speaker that affect his speech. An examination of the linguistic characteristics that distinguish between the discourse of truth and that of invention among 48 native Hebrew speakers who were asked to tell both true and invented stories found 13 criteria that differentiate between the two types of discourse. The criteria were classified according to the cognitive and emotional functions affecting the speaker, also addressing his level of awareness of these functions. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the effectiveness of the linguistic examination in differentiating between truth and deception. This effectiveness is due to the uncontrollable psychological processes that cause differences between the discourse of truth and invention. The results may enable us to construct an instrument for linguistic examination to differentiate between the two types of discourse.