Lie Detection vs Investigative Interviewing: The Truth

About this episode

This episode discusses the importance of mindset in investigative interviewing over traditional lie detection methods.

Lie detection has been the wrong goal all along. Mark Anderson spent decades in law enforcement, and his conclusion is blunt: the mindset you carry into an interview matters more than any signal you think you're reading off someone's face. In this episode: Why curiosity over certainty is an operational principle, not a motivational slogan, and what it actually changes in practice The lie detection problem: why watching for behavioural signals produces confirmation bias rather than accurate reads How behavioural observation functions as question fuel rather than a truth-or-deception verdict, and why that distinction matters operationally The power and control dynamic in investigative interviews, and why maintaining control by giving it up is the move most interviewers won't make Bob Pointer on talking to the mask: why addressing who the person wants to be seen as is more productive than trying to strip it away System 1 vs System 2 thinking in the interview room, and how pressure to act on instinct produces the worst outcomes at the highest stakes Why red-teaming your own interview mindset reduces confirmation bias more reliably than technique training alone Subscribe wherever you…

People in this episode

Host: ben cardall

Guest: Mark Anderson

Topics covered

• lie detection
• investigative interviewing
• confirmation bias
• behavioral observation
• interview mindset
• curiosity
• System 1 vs System 2 thinking

Keywords

• lie detection
• investigative interviewing
• confirmation bias
• behavioral signals
• interview techniques
• curiosity
• System 1 thinking
• System 2 thinking

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