GCSE English Speaking Exam - presentation and speech notes

Alternative transcript:

a stranger, 3 lies are told. A crucial point is that almost every lie stems from fear and this is clear in the different types of lies. There are 6 main types of lies, each with different 'tactics' and desired outcomes. 01 - the white lie, a benign lie (meaning it is conventionally harmless) and its often used to be kind and stems from a fear of social conflict 02- The concealment lie - this is the spreading of false information about yourself from a superiority or inferiority point, for example an inferiority perspective is the lie 'I've done no revision' this is giving yourself an inferior position and stems from a fear of irrelevance or being below average for the amount of time you did spend revising rather than none. 03- the truthful lie - while this sounds like an oxymoron, a truthful lie is classified as a type of lie as it is telling a truthful account while leaving out key details - this is a manipulative lie and the stem of fear is dependent on the situation and found by asking what the liar is afraid of happening if the full truth was told 04- the plastic trophy lie - falsely retelling accounts of fake credentials or past memories hence the name 'plastic' trophy, this is often seen in lying on CVS's or to have 'exciting' stories when talking to someone whose validation you crave 05- the puppeteers lie - another manipulative lie - often to feel in control of social situations and seen through lies of gossip or rumours in a malignant way but can also be used in a benign fashion such as between a parent and a child saying 'if you don't behave well, Father Christmas won't come' while in theory it is classed as manipulative it is classed as benign as it is a healthy behavioural technique. 06- the intimidators lie - spreading false information about your power to evoke fear and to keep a higher status often seen in work environments through threats of an employer to an employee as a threat of 'if you get fired from my office, you'll never find a job again' implying they not only have power over their business but each possible new career for the employee When telling a lie, there are many complex parts involved and to help explain these, first I'm going top show 3 parts of the brain and their structure. In this diagram, the brain is split into three sections, where first section, the top blue layer is the neocortex and is in control of high cognitive functions, such as language and abstract thought the middle, red layer is the limbic system which controls behaviour and emotion and the lowest, brown section is the reptilian brain which controls vital structures such as heart rate, but we don't need to know about that now. The frontal lobe of the brain is the light blue section of the diagram as shown here and within this, in the neocortex is where the brain supresses the truth while telling a lie. In the temporal lobe - as shown by the light green in the diagram, helps with processing auditory information and encoding of memory, within this, in the limbic system, which as I said earlier is here, lies the amygdala, which is a key section in lying as it controls the anxiety and guilt we feel while telling a lie. The anterior cingulate cortex, which is here, is vital part of lying as its functions include emotional expression and is much more activated during lying And finally the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex is involved with decision making and conflict management and is located around here. This is the amygdala and its functions include controlling flight or flight and detecting threat or releasing anxiety when lying Interestingly, the brain can actually change due to excessive lying as research shows that the more someone lies, the less activity seen in the amygdala, which as I said, controls guilt, therefore, the less activity, the less guilt and as this is a tell-tale sign through body language, it becomes much easier and therefore addictive to lie. There is actually another type of lie I haven't mentioned yet and this comes from the pathological liar, which is different to the 6 types of lie The first thing is that there is no obvious motivation, and while as I said, most lies stem from fear, the pathological liar does not seem to have obvious motivation in the scenarios that they lie and a lot of the time do not conform to the standard types of lies. In the brain of a pathological liar, there is a 22% increase in white matter, which is the matter that provides quick thinking and fast connections, essentially providing the lie; however, there is a 14% decrease in grey matter which is the part of the brain that mediates inhibitions, in other words the part in a non-pathological liars brain that informs them not to tell the lie. A pathological liar can often suffer from Munchausen's syndrome, which is where they lie about an illness either mental or physical and while this seems harmless to the liar themselves, its harmful to health clinics and charities, specifically those with limited capacity and the person suffering from Munchausen's syndrome will be given support for an illness they don't have rather than the syndrome they do have. Their lifestyle is also very damaging to their work or personal relationships and as they are mainly found out eventually, this causes an untrustworthy work environment or unhealthy relationships. Pathological lying is stronger than compulsive lying, purely in that they will continue to lie even when both parties are aware what they are saying is false. 02 - The Signs Of Lying While through instinct, humans can only detect a lie correctly 54% of the time, there are natural signs of lying which appear through instinct and we can use these to observe a liar. There is an increase in blinking time specifically by around 1.67 times although this is differs between genders as while men blink 11 times per minute, this is almost doubled in women who blink at on average 19 times per minute As I've said, lying mainly stems from fear and this is shown in micro-expressions, although these can only be seen with professional training, for lying these micro expressions include eyebrows drawn higher and together or tension in the lower eyelids. There are also signs in speech which are a psychological attempt of the liar to manipulate the subject to believing them, these include superlatives or qualifiers as some of the most common language when lying is 'to be honest' or 'believe me'. The 'Maximiser' is a type of liar who uses non-sensical extra detail to prove their knowledge of the subject and in contrary to this, the 'Minimiser' is a type of liar who is very vague in detail to sub- consciously disappear from the narrative, creating distance. 03-Lying and the law. Lying has many links within the law, making false statements under oath is illegal, under the terms of perjury and of course the commercialisation of polygraphs tests has led to new ideas in lie detection. While lie detectors are used in criminal circumstances, they cannot be used as evidence in court, this seems inefficient but the point is that the tests can help to minimise false negatives and display areas which need more investigation. Lie detection has been around for centuries, as seen; through forms of forced confession such as ancient torture or oaths to god. Ancient Asia however had a milder approach and to help these civilisations to detect lies, they would use a 'rice test' by placing a dry grain of rice in the suspects mouth while being questioned and at the end of the questioning, they would remove the rice grain and if it was coated in saliva, the accused would be proclaimed as innocent whereas if the grain was dry, they would be declared guilty as lying causes a dry mouth, due to pressure. Erasistratus was a Greek physician between 300 and 250 bc who began ideas of measuring pulse while being tested for lies, a higher pulse in dictated guilt while an unchanging rate implied innocence. In the early 20th century, Marstons blood pressure test became commercialised and this was a test comparing blood pressure in a relaxed state and under questioning. An increase in blood pressure linked to a higher stress level while answering, therefore implying a lie. Questioning techniques 1. Control Questions technique - compares response to a relevant question and a 'control' question such as if a suspect was accused of murdering their friend, a relevant question would be 'did you kill your friend?' While a control question would be 'have you ever betrayed anyone who trusted you' 2. Guilty Knowledge technique - this is where the suspect is not only questioned about the crime they are accused of but also about their knowledge surrounding the crime, for example instead of asking 'did you kill this victim' they would ask 'was the victim wearing a green shirt' or 'was the victim wearing a red shirt' 04-Lying Lying is an inevitable concept in social creatures, while there are civilisations, there will be liars - these can be told out of fear, to keep social peace, or for personal gain and while some are crucial, manipulative lies are dangerous to personal, social and work environments. Collective changes and societal consequences of uncovered lies would help to encourage honest which would would support us to maintain relationships and fair balances of power.