Psychology of Deception: Web Exercises

This is a Web Exercise template created by the psychology teaching team at the University of Glasgow, based on ideas from Software Carpentry. This template shows how instructors can easily create interactive web documents that students can use in self-guided learning.

The {webexercises} package provides a number of functions that you use in inline R code or through code chunk options to create HTML widgets (text boxes, pull down menus, buttons that reveal hidden content). Examples are given below. Render this file to HTML to see how it works.

NOTE: To use the widgets in the compiled HTML file, you need to have a JavaScript-enabled browser.

Example Questions

Fill-In-The-Blanks (fitb())

Create fill-in-the-blank questions using fitb(), providing the answer as the first argument.

• 2 + 2 is

You can also create these questions dynamically, using variables from your R session.

• The square root of 36 is:

The blanks are case-sensitive; if you don’t care about case, use the argument ignore_case = TRUE.

• What is the letter after D?

If you want to ignore differences in whitespace use, use the argument ignore_ws = TRUE (which is the default) and include spaces in your answer anywhere they could be acceptable.

• How do you load the tidyverse package?

You can set more than one possible correct answer by setting the answers as a vector.

• Type a vowel:

You can use regular expressions to test answers against more complex rules.

• Type any 3 letters:

Multiple Choice (mcq())

• “Never gonna give you up, never gonna: let you goturn you downrun awaylet you down”
• “I bless the rainsguess it rainssense the rain down in Africa” -Toto

True or False (torf())

• True or False? You can permute values in a vector using sample(). TRUEFALSE

Longer MCQs (longmcq())

When your answers are very long, sometimes a drop-down select box gets formatted oddly. You can use longmcq() to deal with this. Since the answers are long, It’s probably best to set up the options inside an R chunk with echo=FALSE.

What is a p-value?

the probability that the null hypothesis is true the probability of the observed, or more extreme, data, under the assumption that the null-hypothesis is true the probability of making an error in your conclusion

What is true about a 95% confidence interval of the mean?

if you repeated the process many times, 95% of intervals calculated in this way contain the true mean there is a 95% probability that the true mean lies within this range 95% of the data fall within this range

Checked sections

Create sections with the class webex-check to add a button that hides feedback until it is pressed. Add the class webex-box to draw a box around the section (or use your own styles).

I am going to learn a lot: TRUEFALSE

What is a p-value?

the probability that the null hypothesis is true the probability of the observed, or more extreme, data, under the assumption that the null-hypothesis is true the probability of making an error in your conclusion

Hidden solutions and hints

You can fence off a solution area that will be hidden behind a button using hide() before the solution and unhide() after, each as inline R code. Pass the text you want to appear on the button to the hide() function.

If the solution is a code chunk, instead of using hide() and unhide(), simply set the webex.hide chunk option to TRUE, or set it to the string you wish to display on the button.

Recreate the scatterplot below, using the built-in cars dataset.

See the documentation for plot() (?plot)

plot(cars$speed, cars$dist)

This set of exercises will test your knowledge about various aspects of deception in psychology. Answer the questions to check your understanding of key concepts, theories, and research findings in this area.

Fill-In-The-Blanks

1. The tendency for people to believe they are less likely to be deceived than others is known as the to deception.

2. In deception research, the is an actor who works with the experimenter to deceive the actual participant.

3. The is a genuine smile that involves both the mouth and the eyes, making it harder to fake in deceptive situations.

Multiple Choice

1. Which of the following is NOT typically considered a reliable indicator of deception?

Increased blinkingReduced hand gesturesLack of eye contactIncreased speech errors

2. The theory that proposes that lying is more cognitively demanding than telling the truth is called:

Interpersonal Deception TheoryCognitive Load TheoryFour-Factor TheorySelf-Presentation Theory

3. In a typical deception study, who is usually unaware of the true nature of the experiment?

ParticipantExperimenterConfederateResearch Assistant

True or False

1. Polygraph tests are highly accurate and widely accepted in scientific communities as reliable lie detectors. TRUEFALSE

2. People are generally better at detecting lies told by strangers than by those close to them. TRUEFALSE

3. Microexpressions are brief, involuntary facial expressions that can potentially reveal concealed emotions in deceptive situations. TRUEFALSE

Longer MCQs

Which of the following best describes the “Truth-Default Theory” in deception research?

The theory that humans are naturally inclined to always tell the truth The theory that humans tend to believe others are telling the truth unless given reason to think otherwise The theory that truth-telling is easier and requires less cognitive effort than lying The theory that cultural norms universally prioritize truthfulness over deception

What is the primary focus of Interpersonal Deception Theory (IDT)?

The neurological processes involved in creating and maintaining a lie The psychological motivations that drive individuals to engage in deceptive behavior The dynamic interaction between the deceiver and the target of deception The cultural variations in perceptions and acceptance of deceptive practices

Checked sections

Research suggests that detecting deception is:

Easy for most peopleOnly possible with specialized trainingDifficult, with accuracy rates often only slightly above chanceImpossible without technological aids

Explain why detecting deception is challenging for most people:

Detecting deception is challenging for several reasons:

1. Many common beliefs about deception cues (e.g., lack of eye contact) are not reliable indicators.
2. Liars often strategically control their behavior to appear truthful.
3. Individual differences in baseline behavior make it hard to identify deviations.
4. The cognitive load of trying to detect lies can impair judgment.
5. Confirmation bias can lead people to interpret ambiguous cues in line with their expectations.

Hidden solutions and hints

A researcher wants to study how cognitive load affects lying behavior. Describe a potential experimental design to investigate this.

Consider how you might manipulate cognitive load (e.g., through a secondary task) and measure lying behavior. Think about what control conditions you might need.

# Possible Experimental Design:

# Participants: 100 adults randomly assigned to two groups (50 each)
# 
# Procedure:
# 1. All participants are asked to lie about a recent experience
# 
# 2. Experimental group: 
#    - Must count backwards from 100 by 7s while lying (high cognitive load)
# 
# 3. Control group:
#    - Simply lie without additional task (normal cognitive load)
# 
# 4. Measure dependent variables:
#    - Speech hesitations
#    - Speech rate
#    - Amount of detail provided
#    - Perceived believability (rated by independent judges)
# 
# 5. Compare measures between groups to assess the effect of cognitive load on lying behavior

# This design allows us to isolate the effect of increased cognitive load on various aspects of lying behavior.

This set of exercises covers various aspects of deception psychology, including theories, research methods, and key findings. It utilizes different question types to engage learners and test their understanding of the subject matter.