OPPapers.com Essay Index >> American History >> Liars
We have many free term papers and essays on Liars. We also have a wide variety of research papers and book reports available to you for free. You can browse our collection of term papers or use our search engine.
liars. The brains of pathological liars have structural abnormalities that
could make fibbing come naturally. "Some people have an ...
Why are People Compulsive Liars? Compulsive adj. of ... 2002). Compulsive or
pathological liars are people who tell lies constantly. ...
... "All humans are born truthful and die liars." (Vauvenargues). ... All people on earth
are liars in some aspect of the word or by someone's standards of lying. ...
... People will be able to trust people who are honest, liars will have rumors spread
around about them, and it's just plain easier to tell the truth. ...
... hypothesis. He suggested that, in accordance with the emotional hypothesis,
liars would be emotionally aroused whilst deceiving. ...
Submitted by tommy009er on July 8, 2007
Category: American History
Words: 586 | Pages: 3
Views: 88
Popularity Rank: 100,253
Average Member Grade: N/A (Add a Comment / Grade this Paper)
The brains of pathological liars have structural abnormalities that could make fibbing come naturally.
"Some people have an edge up on others in their ability to tell lies," says Adrian Raine, a psychologist at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. "They are better wired for the complex computations involved in sophisticated lies."
He found that pathological liars have on average more white matter in their prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain that is active during lying, and less grey matter than people who are not serial fibbers. White matter enables quick, complex thinking while grey matter mediates inhibitions.
Raine says the combination of extra white matter and less grey matter could be giving people exactly the right mix of traits to make them into good liars. These are the first biological differences to be discovered between pathological liars and the general population.
Systematic manipulation
Other researchers have used brain imaging to show that the prefrontal cortex is more active when ordinary people tell lies. They are looking for ways to use this as an alternative to the polygraph test.
But pathological liars are a distinct group who systematically manipulate others, lie or use aliases for financial gain or personal pleasure, such as to get sickness benefits or to skip work. "It's almost like a livelihood," says Raine.
Until now no one has looked at the structure of the brains of this particular group, says psychologist Maureen O'Sullivan of the University of San Francisco in California, who specialises in lying and truthfulness.
Raine interviewed 108 volunteers from five temporary employment agencies in Los Angeles and set them standard psychopathic tests. This allowed him to identify 12 as pathological liars, 16 as people with a personality disorder but who did not exhibit pathological lying and 21 as...
You must Login to view the entire paper.
If you are not a member yet, Sign Up for free!