Although most people are not better than chance in detecting deception, some groups of police professionals have demonstrated significant lie detection accuracy. One reason for this difference may be that the types of lies police are asked to judge in scientific experiments often do not represent the types of lies they see in their profession. Across 23 studies, involving 31 different police groups in eight countries, police officers tested with lie detection scenarios using high stakes lies (i.e., the lie was personally involving and/or resulted in substantial rewards or punishments for the liar) were significantly more accurate than law enforcement officials tested with low stakes lies. Face validity and construct validity of various lie scenarios are differentiated.

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This paper reports on a study designed to explore individual differences in uncertainty-reducing behavior regarding new and existing friends via online information seeking (OIS). Personality traits and social context were measured by surveying a sample of 377 Facebook users. Global uncertainty had a positive relationship with active information seeking about new friends, whereas communication apprehension was associated with seeking information about existing friends. The geographic proximity of close friends and family did not affect information-seeking behavior, but those with larger strong tie networks spent more time seeking information online and were happier. These results suggest that psychological traits served as strong motives for uncertainty-reducing behavior like active OIS.