Compare your ideas in groups. b Read the article again. 1 How did Jeff Hancock’s team collect the information? 2 What four things can suggest that someone is lying in an email? 3 Why does Peter Collett disagree with Hancock’s method? Read two emails from different employees to their boss, Keith. Who do you think is telling the truth? Who do you think is lying? Why? b 18 a Hi Keith, Sorry but won’t be able to come to work today. We had chicken last night and I think it was bad. Woke up at three this morning and felt awful. Was sick for four hours. Saw the doctor but he wasn’t any help. Am exhausted. Feel stressed out because I’m not at work. Anyway, really sorry. I should be back at work tomorrow. Best wishes, Simon Hi Keith, I’m really sorry but I can’t come to work today. I’ve been sick all night. Anyway, I’m really sorry. I should be back at work tomorrow. Best wishes, Maya The lie detector Talk together. 1 What’s a white lie? Do you have a similar expression in German? 2 Do you think it’s OK to tell white lies? Listen to Jamie and Emma talking about lies. Are their opinions similar to yours? They invent the expressions black lie, grey lie and charcoal lie. What do you think they mean? Read the article about a piece of software to detect written lies. Do you think it will work? Why? Why not? Listening 15 16 a z553s9 48 b a Reading 17 Computer software to catch email liars Researchers in the United States are working on lie-detection software for emails and text messages. The new software is being developed by a team led by Jeff Hancock. “We asked people to come into the labs and write lies, and we had other people come in and write the truth,” says Hancock. “Using this method, we’ve built up a database of tens of thousands of emails.” The scientists have analysed the data and identified a number of simple tests to predict whether or not a person is lying. One of the most important tests is the length of a message. Lying emails have, on average, 28% more words than truthful messages. Another sign is the overuse of sense words, such as ‘see’, ‘feel’ and ‘touch’. “When you’re lying, you want the other person to believe you, so you give more details,” says Hancock. Liars also tend to use pronouns like ‘we’ and ‘they’ rather than ‘I’ as a way of distancing themselves from a lie because they feel guilty. “People often use negative emotional words too, because they feel uncomfortable when they’re lying,” says Hancock. “So they’ll use terms like ‘sad’, ‘angry’, ‘unhappy’ and ‘stressed’.” Previous research has shown that up to one third of communications at work involve lying of some sort. The most common workplace lie is pretending to be sick to avoid going to work. But Peter Collett, a psychologist who has written a book on lying, is sceptical about Hancock’s work. “You can see if somebody is lying by looking at their body language, how fast they talk, and how they speak,” he says. “How can a computer program see all this? They’ve clearly done a lot of research, but with emails all you have is words.” 102 Language skills Extras Explore 8 Fiction and reality Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv
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