Key words: deception detection; credibility assessment; embedded lies; verbal content analysis; deception strategies; good liars

"The Effect of Embedded Lies on the Verbal Quality of Statements and Implications for Credibility Assessment"

The aim of this research was to examine how interviewees’ strategic inclusion of both truths and lies within a single account may affect statement quality, and the subsequent implications for verbal lie detection. Across three experimental studies and one survey, this research (i) explored the deception strategies reported by people who claim to be good liars, (ii) examined how the combination of truths and lies within a single account affects the verbal quality of statements, and (iii) tested if embedded lies can be exploited to facilitate within-statement lie detection. Results showed that liars aim to maintain consistency regarding the quality of information provided between truths and lies within their statements. However, methods of verbal credibility assessment based on the cues measured in this thesis may be robust against this strategy.