When trying to avoid punishment
to protecting others from the truth.
Lying is a behavior we take part in
frequently and for a clear purpose,
with the average person
lying one to two times per day.
Do we really understand
the science behind lying?
Today my scientists
friends and I will be breaking
down the science of lying
into three perspectives:
biological, psychological, and sociological.
First, let's try to understand
why people lie in the first place.
Is there a biological aspect to lying?
To understand the biological side of lying,
we must understand that humans are not
the only animals that lie intentionally.
This suggests
an evolutionary purpose for lying.
Humans are social creatures
and it is necessary for us
to be accepted into our
community for our success.
Thus, lying allows us to participate in
social groups and protect
ourselves and others.
It is also natural human instinct
to lie to protect offspring.
Oxytocin is a hormone that's
involved in both male and female behaviors.
Specifically, it is involved in
a response known as the tend and befriend,
which balances tending to offspring and
befriending social groups for mutual defense.
Studies have shown that when
administered oxytocin nasally,
participants are more likely to
lie compared to placebos.
Since oxytocin is related to child bonding,
it suggests that lying and
oxytocin go hand in hand.
Now let's discuss where
lying lies and our brains.
FMRI technology allows us
to see blood flow activity in the brain.
Studies using this technology have found that
the anterior cingulate cortex and
prefrontal cortex are
mainly involved in deception.
These areas are involved in
high level processing functions
like impulse control,
emotion, decision-making and ethics.
However, even with this information,
is difficult to pinpoint
exactly where deception comes from.
Nonetheless, we know it is
not just a psychological thing.
The biology of the brain does matter.
For example, in conditions like Parkinson's,
patients often have difficulty lying due to
the pathological changes
in their brain regions.
So previously we've talked about
the biological perspective of lying.
And now we will be discussing
the psychological perspective of lying.
From a cognitive perspective,
lying takes up more energy
than telling the truth.
This is because lying involves creating
a story instead of using
a story from your memory.
Liars also must be
aware of what they say and make sure
they do not contradict themselves
or the person they're lying.
Liars have to keep the truth
in their memory and insured they
don't say the truth when
interacting with the person.
they're lying too.
They also have to be aware of how they act
and behave with the person
they are lying to,
as well as observe how that person
behaves in order to prevent
any acts of behavior being interpreted.
Brain imaging research has
shown that lying involves
higher activity of specific
regions in the brain than telling
the truth. These specific regions
involved the dorsal, lateral, prefrontal,
and inferior frontal regions,
which are active when performing
complicated tasks.
There are three potential functions
that play a vital role in
the increase cognitive effort of
lying. One is working memory,
keeping memory of the truth in
order to create a successful lie.
And this involves using
energy to retrieve memories.
And number two is response inhibition,
prevention of revealing the truth,
and it may involve in emitting and
activate a response that involves deception.
Lastly, task switching.
One may switch between the truth to the lie,
which involves switching task.
Based on research articles,
it is found that there are four stages
when lying, the activation
of the truth from long-term memory,
deciding and creating a way to
alter information that's being shared.
The construction of the lie
and the action of lying.
Any of the four components can contribute
to the cognitive cost of lying.
As we like to see others for a gain and
self-interest, lying can be
seen as a characteristic
in some psychiatric disorders.
Personality disorders like anti-social,
borderline, histrionic and narcissistic.
Factitious disorder and malingering disorder
are a few new name.
However, it is
important to distinguish between
lying and pathological lying
when it comes to disorders.
Pathological lying is lying
without an obvious motivation.
Finding it difficult to control lying.
As lying is goal oriented,
we can distinguish lying found within
these disorders and pathological lying.
If it is pathological, however,
then it would be considered or seen as
a coexisting disorder rather than
a characteristic of an existing disorder.
To illustrate, following someone who is
addicted to psychoactive drugs or alcohol,
one characteristic is lying or deceit,
either to themselves or others around them.
According to Ford 1996
and Strom and Barone 1993,
this behavior has many causes.
Some of these include deception, to
avoid shame over the fact
that they are dependent,
or to convince themselves
and others that they have the ability to
stop and recover after consumption.
Therefore, although lying is
a characteristic of addicted persons,
this is not pathological,
even if their behavior seems to depicts so.
Now as we speak about
pathological lying in lying,
it is important to keep in mind that
only a small portion of
individuals are actually pathological liars.
And this term should not be used as
a synonym for excessive lying.
It should instead be used for those who have
a decreased ability to
control lying for no reason.
As now we have gone through
the different perspectives of lying,
we hope you have a little bit more insight
into the science of lying.