Lying is a daily part of life， but how can you identify the liars around you？ A psychology professor outlines the top tips.

謊言是日常生活的一部分，但怎樣才能識(shí)別出身邊的說(shuō)謊者呢？一位心理學(xué)教授概述了最重要的技巧。

Whether it’s an innocent white lie， or a deep dark secret years in the making， lying is very much woven into the fabric of society.

無(wú)論是無(wú)辜的善意謊言，還是醞釀多年的幽暗秘密，謊言在社會(huì)中無(wú)孔不入。

But， when you’re not dealing with an obvious deception， filled with plot holes and bizarre twists， how can you tell someone is lying？ The answer lies in psychology.

但是，當(dāng)你面對(duì)的并非充滿(mǎn)情節(jié)漏洞和離奇曲折的明顯欺騙時(shí)，你怎么能確定一個(gè)人在說(shuō)謊呢？答案在于心理學(xué)。

We spoke to Richard Wiseman， a professor of the public understanding of psychology at the University of Hertfordshire， for an episode of the podcast Instant Genius1. He gave us insights into how to better understand a liar.

在播客《即時(shí)天才》的一集中，我們采訪(fǎng)了赫特福德大學(xué)教授理查德·懷斯曼，他的研究領(lǐng)域是公眾對(duì)心理學(xué)的理解。他給我們提供了關(guān)于如何更好地理解說(shuō)謊者的洞見(jiàn)。

Are there any tells that can help us identify when someone is telling us a lie？

有什么線(xiàn)索可以幫我們識(shí)別出一個(gè)人在說(shuō)謊？

I did an experiment with the BBC where we would interview politicians on the radio. Some would lie and some would tell the truth with audiences phoning in to say who’s lying. Unsurprisingly， no politicians wanted to do it.

我在BBC廣播節(jié)目里做過(guò)一個(gè)實(shí)驗(yàn)，打算由電臺(tái)采訪(fǎng)政界人士。一些政界人士會(huì)說(shuō)謊，另一些則會(huì)說(shuō)真話(huà)，而聽(tīng)眾會(huì)打電話(huà)來(lái)辨別誰(shuí)在說(shuō)謊。不出所料，沒(méi)有政界人士愿意參與。

We got in contact with a big political interviewer of the time and he agreed to do it instead.

我們聯(lián)系了當(dāng)時(shí)做政治訪(fǎng)談的一位名人，他同意來(lái)做這一試驗(yàn)。

I interviewed him twice， each time about his favourite film. Once he lied to me， once he told the truth. We put them out live on TV. We ended up with about 30，000 calls and what we saw was that the public did the same on television as they do in the lab experiments， which is they were roughly 50/50. In other words， as a group， they couldn’t tell when he was lying.

我采訪(fǎng)了他兩次，每次都是關(guān)于他最喜歡的電影。其中一次他說(shuō)的是謊話(huà)，另一次說(shuō)的是真話(huà)。這兩次訪(fǎng)談在電視上進(jìn)行現(xiàn)場(chǎng)直播。我們最終接到了約3萬(wàn)個(gè)電話(huà)。我們看到，公眾在電視上與在實(shí)驗(yàn)室里的表現(xiàn)一樣——猜對(duì)和猜錯(cuò)的人基本上各占一半。換句話(huà)說(shuō)，總體上無(wú)法識(shí)別出他什么時(shí)候在說(shuō)謊。

We also ran the transcript in a newspaper and put the audio on the radio. When we stripped away the visual cues， you suddenly saw this big increase in people’s lie detecting ability.

我們也在報(bào)紙上刊印了文字記錄，并以廣播形式播放了節(jié)目?jī)?nèi)容。剝除視覺(jué)線(xiàn)索后，你會(huì)突然發(fā)現(xiàn)，人們的測(cè)謊能力大幅提高。

The visual cues are highly controllable. How we gesture， smile and look， that’s under our control. When you get to the words we say and how we say them， it’s not really something we think about very much. And that’s where the good cues sit.

視覺(jué)線(xiàn)索是高度可控的。我們的手勢(shì)、笑容和表情都在自己掌控之中。但當(dāng)你關(guān)注我們說(shuō)了什么和我們的說(shuō)話(huà)方式時(shí)，你會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)，事實(shí)上，這些并不是我們會(huì)深思熟慮的方面。而這就是好的線(xiàn)索所在。

Once you focus on audio cues， you become a better lie detector.

一旦你專(zhuān)注于聽(tīng)覺(jué)線(xiàn)索，就會(huì)成為一個(gè)更好的謊言識(shí)別者。

A popular example is that if you’re lying you look up and to the right， is there any truth in this？

一個(gè)廣為流傳的例子說(shuō)，當(dāng)你說(shuō)謊時(shí)，會(huì)抬眼向右看。這符合事實(shí)嗎？

We’ve looked into that. It is one of the most popular myths out there. I know people that have based big decisions on this belief， it’s quite worrying.

我們已經(jīng)對(duì)此進(jìn)行了研究。這是最流行的迷思之一。我知道有些人基于這一信念作出重大決定，這非常令人擔(dān)憂(yōu)。

Part of this is that we’re trying to cut down on faces coming into our heads because faces take up a lot of processing power. If you’re trying to remember something， often you look away but is absolutely seen across the world as a sign of deception.

望向他處的部分原因是我們?cè)谠噲D減少進(jìn)入我們大腦的面孔，因?yàn)槊婵渍紦?jù)大量的大腦處理能力。如果你正試圖想起某件事，常常會(huì)把目光移開(kāi)，但這舉動(dòng)在全世界的人眼中，完全是一種騙人的表現(xiàn)。

Is it the case？ We tested this and found there’s no indication at all that the eye movements relate to whether someone is lying.

真的是這樣嗎？我們對(duì)此進(jìn)行了測(cè)試，發(fā)現(xiàn)沒(méi)有任何跡象表明眼球運(yùn)動(dòng)與一個(gè)人是否在說(shuō)謊相關(guān)。

Are people able to hide their body language tells when lying？

人們說(shuō)謊時(shí)能夠隱藏自己的肢體語(yǔ)言線(xiàn)索嗎？

Some people can， but most people absolutely can’t. What you tend to look for in lie detection work is a deviation away from the person’s norm.

有些人可以，但大多數(shù)人絕對(duì)做不到。在測(cè)謊工作中，你要尋找的是人的表現(xiàn)與其常態(tài)的偏差。

If someone scratches their nose， it could be a sign of them lying， or perfectly normal behaviour. It’s no use to look at one piece of action and decide they’re lying because they looked away， maybe they do that all the time.

如果一個(gè)人摸鼻子，這可能是說(shuō)謊的表現(xiàn)，但也可能是完全正常的行為。僅看一個(gè)動(dòng)作，比如移開(kāi)目光，就判斷是在說(shuō)謊，這是沒(méi)有用的——也許人家總是做這個(gè)動(dòng)作。

In lie detection work， we establish a baseline and then you’re looking for certain signals away from that baseline. And those signals tend to be verbal.

在測(cè)謊工作中，我們首先確立一個(gè)基線(xiàn)，然后尋找偏離該基線(xiàn)的某些信號(hào)。這些信號(hào)往往存在于言辭之中。

You’re looking for the hesitations， bigger distancing between the end of the question and the beginning of the answer as they think through the lie. You’re looking for a dropping away of detail.

要注意被測(cè)者是否猶豫不決，即聽(tīng)完問(wèn)題較長(zhǎng)時(shí)間才作答，似乎在考慮如何撒謊。要看對(duì)方有無(wú)在不經(jīng)意間漏掉細(xì)節(jié)。

You’re looking for dropping of me， my and I， those sorts of words. Because lying is cognitively difficult.

要注意言語(yǔ)中me、my和I這類(lèi)詞的缺失——因?yàn)檎f(shuō)謊時(shí)會(huì)出現(xiàn)認(rèn)知困難。

In a lie， you have to think through what the person knows， what’s going to fit in with my story， what have I said already and all those things tax the person’s mind.

人要說(shuō)謊，就得考慮對(duì)方知道什么，哪些與自己編的故事相符，自己之前說(shuō)過(guò)什么。所有這些思考會(huì)讓一個(gè)人費(fèi)盡腦筋。

Can you become a good liar？

你能成為一個(gè)說(shuō)謊高手嗎？

From a psychology perspective， there’s this sort of arousal theory.

從心理學(xué)視角來(lái)看，有這樣一種喚起理論。

This is the idea that when we lie to somebody， we feel guilty and therefore will start to sweat and move around， things that people who are physiologically active do.

這一理論認(rèn)為，當(dāng)我們對(duì)人說(shuō)謊時(shí)，我們會(huì)感到內(nèi)疚，因此會(huì)開(kāi)始出汗并四處走動(dòng)——這是生理活躍的人會(huì)有的表現(xiàn)。

However， if you told this lie quite a few times or you don’t really care very much about lying， or even if you’re lying for some greater good， you might not feel that same guilt.

然而，如果這個(gè)謊言你已經(jīng)講過(guò)很多次，或者你并不那么在意說(shuō)謊，甚或你說(shuō)謊是出于好意，那么你也許并不會(huì)有這種愧疚感。

It is also important to remember that lots of lies are in that category， explosive lies are only a very small part of lying.

同樣重要的是，要記住，許多謊言都屬于這一類(lèi)。爆炸性謊言只占謊言的很小一部分。

Most of the time lying bonds us together. You meet somebody in the street and tell them it is great to see them. Maybe that is true， but it might equally be a lie to spare2 their feelings.

大多數(shù)情況下，謊言把我們聯(lián)結(jié)在一起。你在街上遇到一個(gè)人，對(duì)他說(shuō)你很高興看到他——這也許是真的，但同樣可能是為了照顧他的感受而說(shuō)的謊話(huà)。

Lying bonds us together as much as pushes us apart. If you don’t feel stressed when you lie， you’re not going to show any of those signals.

謊言將我們聯(lián)結(jié)在一起，也讓我們分離。如果你說(shuō)謊時(shí)沒(méi)有感覺(jué)到壓力，就不會(huì)表現(xiàn)出任何說(shuō)謊跡象。

From a cognitive perspective， lying is cognitively difficult. If you’ve told that story many， many times and you’re a well-rehearsed liar， you’re not going to have those cognitive signals. In fact， you may even end up believing the lie yourself because you’ve told it so many times.

從認(rèn)知角度來(lái)看，說(shuō)謊是有認(rèn)知難度的。如果一個(gè)謊言你已經(jīng)講過(guò)很多很多遍，謊言也是精心排練好的，那么你就不會(huì)有那些認(rèn)知困難跡象。事實(shí)上，你最終甚至可能自己也相信了這個(gè)謊言，因?yàn)槟阋呀?jīng)說(shuō)過(guò)那么多次了。

How reliable is a lie detector in testing a lie？

測(cè)謊儀測(cè)謊有多可靠？

It is a sophisticated piece of equipment that tells how physiologically active a person is. It will tell you how much they’re sweating， heart rate， breathing rate and so on.

測(cè)謊儀是一種精密設(shè)備，可以測(cè)出一個(gè)人的生理活躍度。它會(huì)告訴你被測(cè)人的出汗量、心率、呼吸頻率等等。

The question is， is all of this reliably linked to lying？ That’s quite a contentious topic. And again， it would depend on the situation.

問(wèn)題是，這些指標(biāo)是否與說(shuō)謊有可靠的相關(guān)性？這是一個(gè)相當(dāng)有爭(zhēng)議的話(huà)題。同樣，這要取決于具體情況。

Not surprisingly， if you start putting all these monitors on and you’ve got a big machine with lots of lights， even someone who isn’t lying can get nervous.

毫不奇怪，如果開(kāi)始給你裝上所有這些監(jiān)測(cè)器，并準(zhǔn)備了一臺(tái)帶有大量指示燈的大型機(jī)器，即使是沒(méi)有說(shuō)謊的人也可能會(huì)感到緊張。

Equally， some liars have told a story so many times or don’t feel guilty about lying， and therefore are not going to show those signals. So my own perspective is that they are not especially reliable.

同樣，一些說(shuō)謊者已經(jīng)把同一個(gè)故事講了很多遍，或者并不因說(shuō)謊而感到愧疚，因此不會(huì)表現(xiàn)出這些跡象。所以，我個(gè)人的觀(guān)點(diǎn)是，測(cè)謊儀并不是特別可靠。

They might give you some insight， but they certainly should be taken with a pinch of salt3.

它們可能會(huì)給你一些啟示，但我們當(dāng)然應(yīng)該對(duì)它們持保留態(tài)度。

（譯者為“《英語(yǔ)世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎(jiǎng)?wù)撸?/p>

1 BBC《科學(xué)焦點(diǎn)》（Science Focus）雜志主辦的高級(jí)講習(xí)播客節(jié)目。

2 spare不傷害。

3 take sth with a pinch of salt不完全相信，半信半疑。