Sunday, March 13, 2016

Analysis: Training The Brain

Recently, I took a poll of investigators who have been in formal training in Statement Analysis for 2 years and asked them to consider what their record of detecting deception has been in this time frame. 

The average in public is 50% guess work. 
Police score slightly higher.
Criminals score slightly higher than police. 

Most investigators cited "100% or very close" with "contamination" as the only source of error.  

This is not uncommon for those who dedicate themselves to serious and guided professional study, in law enforcement as well as human resources.  

The brain learns. 

They find that after 18 months of "circling pronouns" they began to "see the circled pronouns" in their heads as people spoke, along with other sensitivity indicators.  It is quite exciting. 



100 people were given a general knowledge test, but just prior to the test, they were given a white coat to wear for the test.

"This white coat is a painter's coat", they were told.

The scores recorded.

The next group of 100 were given the same test wearing the same white coat but this group was told,

"This white coat is a doctor's coat."

The results of this test, and repeated confirmation tests, showed consistently higher grades of those who were old that they were wearing the doctor's coat.


Expectation bias?

Perhaps.

The brain responded and test results proved it.

Audio:

Most of us listen to our music from a computer or smart phone in which the music is not only stored in digital form, but it is compressed.  Without feigning scientific knowledge of depth here, the average song has at least 1,000,000 pieces of "information" for your brain to interpret.  Much of the 'dots' or pieces of information are lost when the audio is "converted" from digital to audio, which we can hear.  Then, out of what we hear, much of this is lost as it is "too much" for the brain to interpret. A single guitar chord, that is, one strum, has 6 notes to it, with each note having a sound of its own, and each has a specific sound when in concert with another, and these two have a specific sound when in concert with the third, but then the fourth has a specific sound when with the first, but then...There is much data for the brain to interpret.

Speech:

The average person has about 25,000 -30,000 words in his personal dictionary within the brain.  When he reports 'what happened this morning', he moves into this dictionary, chooses the words to use, places the words in a particular order to make sense, and chooses the proper verb tenses and pronouns.  Since it is impossible for him to report "everything" that happened this morning, the data is reduced greatly, reflecting his priority.  This transmission is too fast to measure, and is called a 'millisecond' of time.  This speed of transmission gives us our incredibly high accuracy rate in lie detection.  Where the average chance is 50% (same as guess rate) and trained 'lie detectors' reach 53%, Statement Analysts often report close to 100% accuracy.

Sight:

The eyes are trained by the brain to look beyond the blood vessels before it and interpret geometrical shapes and figures, so that it does not see a 'door', but the brain recognizes these shapes, and in less than a millisecond of time interprets it.


It is said that many who suffer from autism have a sensory overload of these things, making them feel overwhelmed, frustrated, angry, depressed, and so on.

Back to audio before reaching the lesson for Statement Analysis training:

You hear a song in Mp3 format.  The millions of pieces of information have been compressed downward to fit more readily on our computers and iPhones.  We are told that much of the pieces of information culled out during the compression process are outside the realm of human audio anyway and people cannot tell the difference between "lossy" or compressed music, and high quality "lossless" or large files.   Test results are generally the same as guessing in lie detection or flipping a coin:

50%.

Not so fast.

The digital audio converter world is one where each iPhone, macbook, android, and PC has its own digital audio converter, or "DAC" within it.  To get higher quality sound, one can purchase a "DAC" from about $100 up to $100,000 that will glean more of the 'dots' of information.  For audiophiles, the DAC that costs about $2500 'does the trick' with high quality headphones.  Recently, a company in England known for high quality DACs took 30 years of research of which the owner said, "I am 60 years old and have all the money I will ever need in life.  I love music and I want the average person to enjoy music the way I do, with them using their smart phones..." and took his standard, expensive, best selling DAC, and stripped it down to its basic components, about the size of a cigarette box, and sold it for 1/4th the price.

It sold like crazy and won all sorts of audio-awards.




He said that they even had a special battery invented for it of which he thinks might last 25 or 30 years.  The only draw back was that they were not able to make their own iPhone adapter:  to do that, they have to submit their science to Apple, as part of an agreement and watch 30 years of research be stolen, so the owner has to buy an Apple adapter.  Apple gets its cut.

He said it has "500 times more data" than the average DAC sold today, making it many times more the DAC that is in iPhones, androids, PCs and apple books.

That's a lot of data for the brain to 'interpret' and process.

When I first heard it, I was stunned.

It sounded like the music was in my living room.  The guitar to my left, the cajon to my right and the vocals...

If Swan Lake can reduce you to watery eyes, this will make you weep.

It is stunning.

Granted, you must have good quality headphones but that it is; the source (computer or phone), this tiny box, and your headphones.  I was shocked.

The owner said something else quite interesting.

He said that people often rave about it, but then after a month report "it is even better.  It needed time to burn in."

There is lots of debate about "burn in" for audio equipment with some scientific tests saying, "uh, nah, no measurable change in headphones after 100 hours..." and so on.

The owner said, 'No, that is not it.  Here it is.  Just as your eyes learn to interpret geometric figures for the brain, so it is that over a few weeks, the brain is more efficient at processing more data than it was just one month ago.'

This is why sound engineers have close to 100% on double blind A-B tests of "Is this music compression MP3 or is it uncompressed lossless?" 

Some dismiss this as "gifted ears" while others recognize what the owner of Chord Electronics said:  'the brain adjusts to more data with training.'


Dulled Listening

With formal training, and consistent, guided, peer influenced regular practice, the dulled listening that you have lived your entire life practicing, begins the process of reversal.


The battle is long, but you can move from "statement analysis" to "discourse analysis" to the point where you not only are analyzing on the fly, that is, live during conversations and/or interviews, but this form of analysis, too, grows as you grow.

Like the listener who experiences music that he has heard for decades as if it is 'new' due to the dynamic increase in data, or like the sports fan who watches his favorite football team on high definition television sees an old game from the 80's, and feels it is almost unwatchable, you, too, can experience such intense growth both towards, and in, discourse analysis.

Lie detection takes years and even signals of 'shut down' or contamination can be audibly discerned over time.

The commitment to excellence takes resolve, dedication, sacrifice and consistency, but it cannot help but pay off dividends audibly, as time goes on. 

I do not have gifted listening skills, yet I recognize how deep the improvement has come over years where it is not something I 'can do' if I concentrate.  This began a few years back where I concentrated and analyzed on the fly. 

Now?

It is just what listening has become.  

I listened to the 30 minute interview of the Chord Electronics CEO on youtube and had a distinct opinion of topic after topic from his language.  His forthcoming answers were refreshing and the honesty pointed. It is unusual for one to obtain the level of success in his life and to speak so plainly, and honestly.  

If you wish to begin actual deception detection, you must 'give yourself' to it.  

We offer not only in house seminars, but an at home training course of which the tuition is reasonable and successful completion of this course, including all tests and its final examination, allows the analyst to join monthly training with other analysts in live, ongoing analysis of actual cases.  Confidentiality agreed upon, it is a marvelous period of growth with many committed to it for life. 

The successful completion of the initial training at your home or office also permits you to join our Advanced Statement Analysis Training where not only advanced techniques are used, but depth and breadth are explored, including Sexual Abuse in language, anonymous author identification, actual profiling, and detecting contamination:  the one element that can detract from your success.  This is a lengthy, deep course of which tuition is also reasonable and allows for adult credits to be awarded from the University of Maine.  

A commitment will help you train the brain from dulled listening, to being able to pick up sensitivity indicators as one speaks, with no 'turn off' switch as the ultimate eventuality.  

No other science can bring the success in lie detection, or even come close, that comes through Statement Analysis. 

To learn more about training, see opportunities for professionals here.






13 comments:

LisaB said...

OT
http://kboi2.com/news/local/deorr-kunz-mom-and-dad-its-so-much-easier-just-to-blame-the-parents

Penny said...

I know exactly what you're saying about "dulled listening." I've read this blog for close to five years now and in the last year the principles of SA sort of "clicked" with me. I notice so much more information when people speak. It's silly but I watch those bad talk shows with lie detector tests and practice analysis; it's actually a great way to look for sensitivity indicators and deception.

Lisa21222 said...

OFF TOPIC - Amusing Anecdote

I realized years ago that if anyone close to me died, I'd probably be the first person suspected of having something to do with it. Not because I am a horrible, violent, or vengeful person, but because my browser search history, and the history on my Netflix, On Demand and Hulu memberships are loaded with true crime articles, questions, and programs. I also realize that I see things a little more cynically than others.

I try to be careful about what I say around people, and for months my BF kind of rolled his eyes when I'd make a comment about the possible guilt or innocence of someone in the news (Bill Cosby, GoFundMe Julie, people whose spouses and/or children die suddenly, various political candidates) or an armchair assessment of their "unreliable denials".

He has watched me converse with my daughter and later tell him all the times I caught her being "deceptive" (hedging on the gender of a friend she went somewhere with, answering questions I had not asked, etc.). He thinks I am overly suspicious and that I have a "skewed perspective" because I watch the shows I watch.

Lately he has started watching my shows with me (48 hours, dateline, 20/20) and putting in his two cents. It has only been a couple of weeks, but I saw the effects last night.

Last night his sister called. I left the room and started folding laundry. I could hear his end of the conversation, and assume it turned to some sort of problem with the brakes on her car. He said "You know you can stop with the emergency brake if you have to" and she replied in some way I could not hear. Then he said (I kid you not) "You know how husbands are always cutting the brake lines on their wives cars..." and I LOST IT!

Obviously his sister was taken aback as well, and he quickly tried to explain that he did not mean ALL HUSBANDS cut the brake lines on their wives cars". Obviously she watches some OTHER kind of TV... maybe "Fuller House" or "Two Broke Girls"...

Maybe you had to be there, but it was funny.

Now if anything happens to my brake lines, he will be the prime suspect. *LOL*

Penny said...

LisaB, this one caught my eye:



The parents say not a day goes by without a threat.

"That they know we're going to go to hell for what we did to our son," Jessica said. "How could we do that, just things like that."


I'm guessing she was asked, "what do they say?" and she followed with her stated response (just based on beginning sentence with "that")

The expected to me would be "they say you're going to hell, how could you do that."

"They know" - She framed it as them knowing rather than thinking, strengthens the accusers' statements

"We" / "we're" / "we" - A few things about this. "We" is closer than "you" which is how I would have reported what someone told me. She takes ownership of the accusations, but shares ownership of it with Vernal. Her language sounded funny in my brain when I read it, definitely not the expected.

It could also be seen as an embedded confession. "We're going to go to hell for what we did to our son," and, "How could we do that?"
Our son - No mention of DeOrr by name. I actually think "our" is appropriate here based on the "we's" preceding this part of the statement, but maybe someone else sees how it might fit the "language of divorce" where typical pronoun use for offspring is "my son" with strong ownership.

"Just" - attempt to minimize or trivialize the preceding statements, ie, "it was just one time!"




Interesting, not much of that reads like a "threat." I wonder if that word was the parents' language or the language of the interviewer.

Anonymous said...

ot
16-year-old asks for help in search for missing mother

http://www.wsmv.com/story/31409098/16-year-old-asks-for-help-in-search-for-missing-mother

A 16-year-old boy is left with only a "good night" text as the last time he heard from his mother.

Police are searching for Melissa Crane of Paris, TN, after she seemed to vanish nearly a week ago.

"This has just got me scared," said Melissa Crane's son, Jonathan. "I feel like half my heart's gone to be honest. That's my mother. That's my world."

Monday afternoon, Jonathan leaned on his truck outside Gary Center Bowl where he and his mother worked together.

"She was pretty much out there volunteering because I love bowling," he explained. "She was there for the support."

Jonathan said there was no better place for his mom to spend time with him.

"When I'm not working, I'm bowling," he laughed.

Monday, waiting for the doors to open at the alley, Jonathan said he just doesn't know where else to go.

"It's nerve wracking," he said. "I don't even know what to think. I don't know what to do."

Jonathan said he last saw his mother Tuesday morning at their North Market Street apartment.

"I told her I was leaving, going to work," he said. "She said, 'OK.' She texted me about 9:30 that night saying she was going to bed, and that's the last I heard from her."

His mother has now missing for nearly a week, Jonathan said he has no idea where she could be or if she's OK.

"I don't like to think about the situation," he said. "I'd just like to think she's just back in her room sleeping."

Friends have posted a "Find Melissa Crane" Facebook page, advising others to be on the lookout for Melissa's car, a maroon 1998 Ford Taurus with 5DD1932 on her tag.

"Right now we don't have any leads," said friend Morgan Hartsfield. "I know everybody wants answers just like Jonathan does, so we're just doing everything we can to find Melissa for him."

"It's just difficult thinking I'm going to be graduating when I'm 18," Jonathan said. "My mom ain't going to be there to see me."

In the wait to hear something new, Jonathan said he's hoping for the day he can bowl a game with his mother again.

Jonathan is now in the care of his father. The Paris Police Department is working Melissa Crane's case.



Read more: http://www.wsmv.com/story/31409098/16-year-old-asks-for-help-in-search-for-missing-mother#ixzz42sjmOihC

Lisa21222 said...

Anonymous at 9:02. Wow. That sounds a little fishy. He seems pretty sure that his mom will not be back in 2 years to see him graduate. Sounds like something happened in her room.

Anonymous said...


"This has (just) got me scared," said Melissa Crane's son, Jonathan. "I (feel) like half my heart's gone (to be honest). (That's) my mother. (That's) my world."

"(She) (was) pretty much out there volunteering (because I love bowling,)" he explained. "She (was) there for the support."


"I (told) her I was (leaving,) going to work," he said. "She said, 'OK.' She texted me about 9:30 that night saying (she was going to bed,) and (that's the last I heard from her.")

"I don't like to think about (the situation,") he said. "I'd (just) like to think (she's just back in her room sleeping.)

"(It's just difficult thinking I'm going to be graduating when I'm 18,") Jonathan said. "(My) mom ain't going to be there to see me."

Anonymous said...

Would Peter care to analyze the transcript of Richard Simmons' statements from his 3/14/2016 phone interview on The Today Show? All readers' analyses would be welcome, too. As you may know, Mr. Simmons has not been seen outside his home in about two years. He ended contact with his close friends, who seem concerned that he is being held in his home by his housekeeper and his manager. What little bit I've learned so far from reading this site suggests that all may not be well with Mr. Simmons.

http://www.today.com/popculture/richard-simmons-today-show-no-one-holding-me-my-house-t79821

Philippa

lynda said...

Anonymous Penny said...
LisaB, this one caught my eye:



The parents say not a day goes by without a threat.

"That they know we're going to go to hell for what we did to our son," Jessica said. "How could we do that, just things like that."

I'm guessing she was asked, "what do they say?" and she followed with her stated response (just based on beginning sentence with "that")

The expected to me would be "they say you're going to hell, how could you do that."

"They know" - She framed it as them knowing rather than thinking, strengthens the accusers' statements

"We" / "we're" / "we" - A few things about this. "We" is closer than "you" which is how I would have reported what someone told me. She takes ownership of the accusations, but shares ownership of it with Vernal. Her language sounded funny in my brain when I read it, definitely not the expected.

It could also be seen as an embedded confession. "We're going to go to hell for what we did to our son," and, "How could we do that?"
Our son - No mention of DeOrr by name. I actually think "our" is appropriate here based on the "we's" preceding this part of the statement, but maybe someone else sees how it might fit the "language of divorce" where typical pronoun use for offspring is "my son" with strong ownership.

"Just" - attempt to minimize or trivialize the preceding statements, ie, "it was just one time!"




Interesting, not much of that reads like a "threat." I wonder if that word was the parents' language or the language of the interviewer

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Penny..There are so many things wrong with the extended interview and the short one that it will take Peter awhile to apply SA to it if he so desires. I hope he does though! I'm anxious to hear what he thinks

Hey Jude said...

'A single guitar chord, that is, one strum, has 6 notes to it, with each note having a sound of its own, and each has a specific sound when in concert with another, and these two have a specific sound when in concert with the third, but then the fourth has a specific sound when with the first, but then...There is much data for the brain to interpret.'

Vance Holmes said...

OT

Law Newz published a fascinating article called "Deception Experts: Jury is Correct, Steven Avery is Guilty" by Phil Houston and Don Tennant. It speaks of 'truth in the lie.'

http://lawnewz.com/high-profile/deception-experts-jury-is-correct-steve-avery-is-guilty/

Boston Lady said...

I was watching a show on ID channel and the police used a voice stress recognition device to determine if the person they were questioning was telling the truth. I was a little surprised because I never knew there was anything like this. So I googled and it seems this isn't well liked by some because it does not provide accurate results.

I enjoy using statement analysis and I do plan to take the home study course as soon as my travel schedule with work slows down a bit. I hope that happens soon !

Boston Lady said...

One other comment about the article discussing music / sound. I am old enough to have had a turntable stereo system :) And with that stereo system, we had big speakers and the sound was amazing. My ex had bought them in germany and shipped them home. So I knew what great sound was like but never really appreciated it. I think I sort of expected it. Now like most, I listen to music on my laptop at work and the sound is "thin" . Not rich and full..until my son gave me a pair of Bose earphones. Not the big dj type ear muffs. Just buds but wowsa, what a difference. Those earphones made a huge difference and I loved listening. I say "loved" because I lost them on a trip. Time for another pair :)