City Research Online

Can You Spot a Liar? Deception, Mindreading, and the Case of Autism Spectrum Disorder

Williams, D. M., Nicholson, T., Grainger, C. , Lind, S. E. ORCID: 0000-0002-6165-9832 & Carruthers, P. (2018). Can You Spot a Liar? Deception, Mindreading, and the Case of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Autism Research, 11(8), pp. 1129-1137. doi: 10.1002/aur.1962

Abstract

Detection of deception is of fundamental importance for everyday social life and might require “mindreading” (the ability to represent others’ mental states). People with diminished mindreading, such as those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), might be at risk of manipulation because of lie detection difficulties. In Experiment 1, performance among 216 neurotypical adults on a realistic lie detection paradigm was significantly negatively associated with number of ASD traits, but not with mindreading ability. Bayesian analyses complemented null hypothesis significance testing and suggested the data supported the alternative hypothesis in this key respect. Cross validation of results was achieved by randomly splitting the full sample into two subsamples of 108 and rerunning analyses. The association between lie detection and ASD traits held in both subsamples, showing the reliability of findings. In Experiment 2, lie detection was significantly impaired in 27 adults with a diagnosis of ASD relative to 27 matched comparison participants. Results suggest that people with ASD (or ASD traits) may be particularly vulnerable to manipulation and may benefit from lie detection training.

Publication Type: Article
Publisher Keywords: autism spectrum disorder; deception; lie detection; metacognition; mindreading; social cognition; theory of mind
Departments: School of Health & Psychological Sciences > Psychology
SWORD Depositor:
[thumbnail of Williams, Nicholson, Grainger, Lind, & Carruthers.2018. Autism Research.pdf]
Preview
Text - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons: Attribution International Public License 4.0.

Download (170kB) | Preview

Export

Add to AnyAdd to TwitterAdd to FacebookAdd to LinkedinAdd to PinterestAdd to Email

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics

Actions (login required)

Admin Login Admin Login