Deception detection in pairs: Exploring multi-decoder veracity judgments

People make judgments about deception differently when working alone or in pairs. One possible reason for this difference is that collaboration requires people to verbalize and justify their judgments, and that this deeper processing changes the decision-making process We tested this explanation by controlling the amount of information that participants provided, either while detecting deception alone or in a pair. Participants provided a binary truth/lie decision, a binary decision and a reason chosen from a list, or an open-ended explanation of their decision. Both factors—pairs and deliberation type—had effects on participants’ bias and confidence, but not accuracy. The findings illustrate that people’s veracity judgments when working together are influenced by the increased processing demands of communication and the social interaction itself.