Steven Watson: Utilising Motion Capture Technology to Identify Nonverbal Indicators of Trust Judgements

Duration: 16 mins 44 secs

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Created:	2015-09-28 17:37
Collection:	Decepticon 2015
Publisher:	University of Cambridge
Copyright:	Dr S. Van der Zee
Language:	eng (English)
Keywords:	Deception; Motion capture; Nonverbal behaviour;


Abstract:	Social interaction is governed by perceptions and beliefs that occur outside of conscious awareness. One such set of beliefs relate to another person’s trustworthiness. Indirect evidence suggests that unconscious trustworthiness beliefs about others manifest in a person’s nonverbal behaviour. We use motion capture technology to test this idea. Using a simulated military interview scenario, forty participants were required to interview six ‘citizens’ (i.e., confederates) to establish if they held information about a fictional illegal activity. We varied citizen trustworthiness based on the two factors of cooperativeness (cooperative vs. non-cooperative) and the knowledge they held about the activity (true vs. absent vs. false). While interviewing citizens, participants wore an Xsens motion capture suit. Following the interviews, they provided explicit trust judgments about each citizen. A mixed linear effects model in which cooperation and knowledge were repeated measures, and order of interviewing was a random effect, revealed greater body movement when interviewing non-cooperative citizens. Participants also showed more body movement when interviewing citizens with no knowledge compared to those with knowledge. By contrast, greater explicit judgements of trustworthiness were only associated with cooperative over non-cooperative citizens and not the type of knowledge citizens held. Our findings support the notion that judgements about another’s trustworthiness may manifest nonverbally. This is consistent with Van Der Zee’s research showing that liars move more than truth tellers. Our results suggest that interviewers react to this presentation in a way that, if captured using high-fidelity technology, can distinguish those with deceptive intent. Critically, movement went beyond explicit judgements alone because it distinguished those deceiving from those who were simply uncooperative.

Abstract:

Social interaction is governed by perceptions and beliefs that occur outside of conscious awareness. One such set of beliefs relate to another person’s trustworthiness. Indirect evidence suggests that unconscious trustworthiness beliefs about others manifest in a person’s nonverbal behaviour. We use motion capture technology to test this idea. Using a simulated military interview scenario, forty participants were required to interview six ‘citizens’ (i.e., confederates) to establish if they held information about a fictional illegal activity. We varied citizen trustworthiness based on the two factors of cooperativeness (cooperative vs. non-cooperative) and the knowledge they held
about the activity (true vs. absent vs. false). While interviewing citizens, participants wore an Xsens motion capture suit. Following the interviews, they provided explicit trust judgments about each citizen. A mixed linear effects model in which cooperation and knowledge were repeated measures, and order of interviewing was a random effect, revealed greater body movement when interviewing non-cooperative citizens. Participants also showed more body movement when interviewing citizens with no knowledge compared to those with knowledge. By contrast, greater explicit judgements of trustworthiness were only associated with cooperative over non-cooperative citizens and not the type of knowledge citizens held. Our findings support the notion that judgements about another’s trustworthiness may manifest nonverbally. This is consistent with Van Der Zee’s research showing that liars move more than truth tellers. Our results suggest that interviewers react to this presentation in a way that, if captured using high-fidelity technology, can distinguish those with deceptive intent. Critically, movement went beyond explicit judgements alone because it distinguished those deceiving from those who were simply
uncooperative.

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