Myth Busted: Looking Left or Right Doesn’t Indicate If You’re Lying
A new study indicates the direction we look while speaking has nothing to do with whether were telling the truth. Photo via Wikimedia Commons/Taherdabbagh
Weve all heard the claim: Watching a persons eyes as they speak can help us figure out if theyre lying or telling the truth. Supposedly, if a right-handed person looks to the right, they areunwittinglyrevealing activity in the right hemispherethe creative half of their brainindicating theyre manufacturing a lie. On the other hand, eyes pointed to the left suggest activity in the rational, left hemisphere, showing that the speaker is telling the truth.
This idea has become so entrenched in conventional wisdom that its reportedly been used to train police conducting interrogations and can be found all over the web. Buta new studyby... [via Smithsonianmag - Science]
