Truth Statements in Denial Context: A Study of Prosodic, Paralinguistic, and Discursive Cues in Japanese Speakers

Abstract

This study investigates linguistic and paralinguistic characteristics of truth statements in denial contexts in terms of prosodic and discursive cues exhibited by Japanese speakers. The majority of studies to date have either focused on lie detection or distinction between true and false statements. Moreover, the subjects have been mostly been Caucasian English-speakers. Observers also tend to resort to stereotypical preconceptions related to liars` behaviour, failing to note how truth tellers behave.We conducted an experiment with native Japanese speakers from the Tohoku area (north-east part of Japan) who are perceived as more introvert, patient, and less outgoing in comparison with those from other regions of Japan. Eleven undergraduate students of both genders were recruited and interviewed individually, with their answers recorded and videotaped. The subjects faced some false statements related to their activities or whereabouts on a particular occasion. Knowing that those statements were all false, it was expected for the subjects to deny them, trying to convince the interviewer of their telling the truth and the interviewer's mistaken claims. Their utterances were examined with respect to three main parameters: prosody (pitch change, stress, pauses), non-verbal behaviour (e. g. gaze, mimics, body part movements), and discourse cues (lexical, syntactic, pragmatic). A content and quantitative analysis of the strategies employed in false claim denials and truth verification was then carried out.