Liar, Liar Pants On Fire!

(yeah, We Wish Fibbers Were That Obvious! Still, There Are Telltale Clues...)

March 28, 2000|By Lisa Skolnik. Special to the Tribune.

If you get fooled again this April Fools' Day, don't feel bad. For one thing, it's all in fun. For another, kids your age can be

pretty good fibbers!

"Most of us are pretty good liars," says Michael Lewis, a psychiatry professor at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, N.J. And research shows that the older you get, the better you become at it. When kids are 5 or 6, it's easy to spot their fibs. By 8 or 9, they can be decent liars -- and by junior high, they can be real pros!

When Rose S., a Chicago 6th grader, wore an arm splint to school last April, her friends were totally sympathetic. One carried her backpack, another hung up her coat, and a third offered to help her take notes. But when Rose grabbed a basketball at recess and started shooting hoops, her pals were shocked -- until she gleefully screeched, "April Fools'!"

Can you tell when someone's duping you? For April Fools' Day or any ol' day, here's some 411 to help you see through fibbers. Be on the lookout for:

-Tension. Danna Ingham-Day, a communications specialist in Fair Haven, N.J., says that can be a big giveaway that someone is telling a tale. Signs of tension include shifty, lowered or widened eyes and refusal to make eye contact; stumbling over words; or fidgeting, such as lip-biting, hair twisting or touching the face, particularly around the nose.

-Baffling actions. As Ingham-Day says, "Behavior that doesn't add up is another clue." For example, Rose's friends could have noticed she wasn't in any pain.

-Changing stories. Gwen B., a Chicago junior high teacher, says she usually catches kids in lies because they can't keep the details of their stories straight. That makes sense, experts say.

"Lying requires excellent recall," says Paul Ekman, a psychology professor at University of California, San Francisco. (He's also a leading researcher on lying.) Making up big whoppers takes lots of prep work, like rehearsing, anticipating questions and devising answers, Ekman points out. Most kids don't go that far for a fib. So try this makeshift lie-detector test: Ask the possible fibber lots of questions and pay attention to the way he or she answers. Ekman notes that when you have to make up an answer on the spot, you may pause more, look away or your voice may become less animated.

"These aren't signs of lying, but signs of on-the-spot thinking,"he says, "and when you ask a tough question, on-the-spot thinking can indicate lying."

-Out-of-control emotions. Lying well also takes great emotional control, Ekman says. So be watching for "emotional signs, like guilt, fear and duping delight." Kids caught up in "duping delight" are thrilled that they're pulling off a fib. But that can quickly turn into overconfidence -- and that's when they might let something slip that foils the fib.

- Kids who aren't themselves.

"Observe any contrary behavior," says Maxine Lucille Fiel, a behavior analyst in Great Neck, N.Y. A quiet kid will be blabby, or a yakker will be hushed. Someone who always looks away will be eyeballing you, or vice versa.

None of these tips shows sure signs of lying -- they're only clues. Bottom line? Trust your intuition, says Cynthia Cohen, head of Verdict Success, an L.A. firm that helps lawyers pick juries. "You're noticing things subconsciously and piecing them together, but suspect something and aren't totally sure," she says. When that happens, she adds, "you're usually right."


We examined some famous liars, as well as folks who might be leading us astray, for telltale clues. But beware: In our quest for truth, we could be pulling some April Fools' shenanigans.

Liars! Milli Vanilli

Rob Pilatus and Fabrice Morvan won the 1989 Best New Artist Grammy -- even though they didn't sing on their album.

Clue: If you watch their acceptance speech closely, they're not really talking to the audience -- they're lip-synching.

Liar! Bill Clinton

The president gives an angry denial when asked about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky.

Clue: Clinton pounds the podium with his fist. It's a bit too dramatic and doesn't accomplish anything -- unless you're trying to make the needle skip on a lie-detector machine.

Liar? Britney Spears

The pop princess insists she never had plastic surgery.

Clue: Her raised voice in response to the rumors. Not only is that a sign of lying -- it's a little-known side-effect of plastic surgery.

Liar! Pinocchio

This puppet had a thing for pulling the wool over Geppetto's eyes.

Clue: His nose grew. Too bad we can't spot phony promises by political candidates that way.