The gap between reality and research: Another look at detecting deception in field settings

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a review of the deception detection literature that arrives at a different conclusion from the one presented by King and Dunn. Specifically, the authors' review shows that people can detect deception at significantly above chance accuracy in policing environments. A new paradigm for deception detection is also discussed. Design/methodology/approach: An extensive literature review was conducted. Findings: People can detect deception at levels that exceed chance in a variety of police-related environments when an ecological approach to detecting deception is adopted. Practical implications: The authors' review suggests that it is time for deception detection training and manuals to move away from the demeanor-based systems that are currently dominant and toward coherence and correspondence-based systems. Originality/value: The paper presents a perspective that is different from the one advanced by King and Dunn. It also introduces the ecological detection of deception paradigm to the policing literature.