Philip Houston > Quotes

“Human behavior isn’t necessarily logical, nor does it necessarily conform to our expectations. What each of us thinks of as logical is a reflection of our own beliefs, and of our own moral compass.”
― Philip Houston, Spy the Lie: How to spot deception the CIA way

“Advances are made by answering questions. Discoveries are made by questioning answers. —Bernard Haisch”
― Philip Houston, Spy the Lie: How to spot deception the CIA way

“All the lies that have ever been told or ever will be told fall into three categories, or strategies: lies of commission, lies of omission, and lies of influence.”
― Philip Houston, Spy the Lie: Former CIA Officers Teach You How to Detect Deception

“Truth only reveals itself when one gives up all preconceived ideas. —Japanese proverb”
― Philip Houston, Spy the Lie: How to spot deception the CIA way

“Advances are made by answering questions. Discoveries are made by questioning answers. Bernard Haisch”
― Philip Houston, Spy the Lie: Former CIA Officers Teach You How to Detect Deception

“The greatest problem in communication is the illusion that it has been accomplished. —Daniel W. Davenport There”
― Philip Houston, Spy the Lie: Former CIA Officers Teach You How to Detect Deception

“We’re certainly not at all suspicious of someone who’s just a nice person. But if, in response to a question, a person suddenly increases the level of nicety, that’s significant. Perhaps the person says, “Yes, ma’am” in that particular response, but at no other time in the interview. Or a compliment might be injected during the response: “That’s a great tie, by the way.” The idea here is that the more we like someone, the more we’re inclined to believe him and to shy away from confrontation. The person is using politeness as a means of promoting his likability.”
― Philip Houston, Spy the Lie: Former CIA Officers Teach You How to Detect Deception

“The strategic principle is that if you want to know if someone is lying, you need to ignore, and thereby not process, truthful behavior.”
― Philip Houston, Spy the Lie: How to spot deception the CIA way

“La gente no se cree las mentiras porque tenga que hacerlo, sino porque quiere. Malcolm Muggeridge”
― HOUSTON PHILIP, Descubre la Mentira

“strategic principle is that if you want to know if someone is lying, you need to ignore, and thereby not process, truthful behavior.”
― Philip Houston, Spy the Lie: Former CIA Officers Teach You How to Detect Deception

“Now, here’s the thing about polygraph examinations. Just as there’s no such thing as a human lie detector, neither is there any such thing as a mechanical lie detector. A polygraph machine doesn’t detect lies. It detects physiological changes that occur in a person’s body in response to a stimulus, the stimulus being a question posed by the polygraph examiner. Whether or not the anxiety associated with those changes is indicative of deception is an open question that must be answered by the analytical and human interaction skills of the polygraph examiner. The”
― Philip Houston, Spy the Lie: Former CIA Officers Teach You How to Detect Deception

“experience has shown that if we can identify the first deceptive behavior within that first five seconds, we can reasonably conclude that the behavior is directly associated with the stimulus.”
― Philip Houston, Spy the Lie: Former CIA Officers Teach You How to Detect Deception

“One of the most essential elements of the mantra to do no harm is the avoidance of sitting in judgment of anyone. The simple fact is that no good can come from being judgmental of a person in an interrogation situation—in fact, it can severely harm the process. When you’re judging someone, you’re necessarily displaying a bias, and bias can only have a negative impact on your ability to get the truth. Of course, we’re all human, and sometimes we have a natural inclination to judge people who mess up. One of the best ways we’ve found to fight that inclination is to remember a fundamental verity in life: Sometimes good people do stupid things.”
― Philip Houston, Get the Truth: Former CIA Officers Teach You How to Persuade Anyone to Tell All

“There's only a casual relationship between human behavior and logic.”
― Philip Houston, Spy the Lie: Former CIA Officers Teach You How to Detect Deception

“In order to determine whether a person is being untruthful, we need to look and listen for the first deceptive behavior to occur within the first five seconds after that stimulus is delivered.”
― Philip Houston, Spy the Lie: How to spot deception the CIA way

“As you begin your information collection, it’s vitally important for Jan to feel good about the path she’s chosen, so that she’ll be inclined to continue to share truthful information with you. Your focus, then, needs to be on rewarding Jan for her decision, and we’ve found that a simple thank-you is a very powerful reward: “Jan, thank you for that. That took a lot of courage.” You’ll also need to squash any urge to bask in your victory—far from haughty, your tone should be sympathetic: “I know that was very difficult, but you did the right thing.”
― Philip Houston, Get the Truth: Former CIA Officers Teach You How to Persuade Anyone to Tell All

“Anyone who commits a crime, misrepresents the facts, or tells a lie may put himself in a situation that forces him to deal with cognitive dissonance. Generally, the person is well aware that doing those things is wrong, and therefore bad. Yet he likely doesn’t think of himself as a wrongdoer, or a bad person, so he’s forced to reconcile these conflicting beliefs. In an interrogation situation, the monologue serves as a means of aiding that reconciliation in a way that’s conducive to a confession, because it relieves the person of the mental discomfort that’s caused by the dissonance. The monologue is meant to prevent the person from focusing on the ramifications of the wrongdoing by keeping him in short-term thinking mode. We help him alleviate the pain he’s feeling by giving him a remedy: a convincing argument, strengthened by rationalization, minimization, and socialization, that resolves the conflict. The resolution allows him to acknowledge the bad act, without having to accept the premise that he’s a bad person.”
― Philip Houston, Get the Truth: Former CIA Officers Teach You How to Persuade Anyone to Tell All

“Phil was interviewing a foreign agent who had been suspected of engaging in activity that was harmful to U.S. interests. When Phil posed the “Did you do it?” question, the agent held his finger up and looked him straight in the eye. “You know,” the agent said, “I could have you killed.” Apparently, he didn’t like Phil’s question. “I’m sure you could,” Phil said. And he went right back to the question. We’ll explain why in chapter 6.”
― Philip Houston, Spy the Lie: Former CIA Officers Teach You How to Detect Deception

“Anchoring – A term used in the negotiation context to describe a person’s heavy reliance on the first piece of information provided or offer made by the other party, creating an expectation of an outcome other than what was first envisaged. Anchor point – Any part of the body that anchors a person to a particular spot or position, including the feet, which are always anchor points. We look at anchor point movement as a potential nonverbal deceptive behavior in which anxiety is dissipated through the physical movement. Attack behavior – A verbal deceptive behavior in which a person attacks the questioner as a means of compelling him to back off from a particular line of questioning. This often takes the form of attempting to impeach the credibility or competence of the questioner. Example: “How long have you been doing this job?” Autonomic nervous system – The part of the nervous system that controls the functions of body organs and involuntary physical reactions to stimuli. Bait question – A question that establishes a hypothetical situation and is designed to trigger a mind virus. Bait questions typically begin with the phrase, “Is there any reason that…” Baselining – Comparing observed behavior with an established norm. This is a behavior assessment strategy that we recommend be avoided because of the high potential for drawing a faulty conclusion.”
― Philip Houston, Get the Truth: Former CIA Officers Teach You How to Persuade Anyone to Tell All

“The trick is to train our brains to go into what we call “L-squared mode”—we have to tell it to look and listen simultaneously. We have to say, “Brain, for the next few seconds, you’re going to process in both the visual and auditory channels what’s being communicated to me.” Your brain will not like you for this. In fact, your brain will win the argument. After a period of time, your brain will say, “I’ve had enough,” and it will default you to one or the other. But with practice, in those few moments following the stimulus you’ll be able to condition your brain to go into L-squared mode.”
― Philip Houston, Spy the Lie: Former CIA Officers Teach You How to Detect Deception

“Phil nodded attentively and compassionately as Omar unloaded it all. Inside, he was exhilarated. He had missed plenty of dinner appointments with far less consolation. It”
― Philip Houston, Spy the Lie: Former CIA Officers Teach You How to Detect Deception

“Cuando la gente habla, escúchala de verdad. La mayoría no escucha nunca. Ernest Hemingway”
― HOUSTON PHILIP, Descubre la Mentira

“Short-term thinking – Focusing on what matters at the moment, rather than on potential consequences over the long term. Socialization – An element of a monologue that is designed to encourage a person to share truthful information by suggesting that the activity under investigation is one that is regularly engaged in by others. Stimulus – The question that prompts a behavioral response. Throat-clearing/swallowing – A nonverbal deceptive behavior in which a person clears his throat or performs a significant swallow prior to answering the question. Timing – The guideline in our deception detection model dictating that the initial deceptive behavior must begin within the first five seconds after the stimulus. Transition statement – Statement made by the questioner to allow for a transparent transition from an interview to an interrogation. It is the first sentence or two of the monologue, and takes the form of a direct observation of concern (DOC) or a direct observation of guilt (DOG). Unintended message – A truthful statement made by a deceptive person that, when the literal meaning of the statement is analyzed, conveys information that the person does not realize he’s conveying. We also refer to this as “truth in the lie.” Vague question – A question to be avoided because it allows for excessive latitude in”
― Philip Houston, Get the Truth: Former CIA Officers Teach You How to Persuade Anyone to Tell All

“The pens on a polygraph chart record four physiological responses to the stimulus. There are two respiratory tracings, one cardiovascular activity tracing, and one galvanic skin response tracing, which records changes in skin moisture. The polygraph examiner will make precise annotations on the chart to indicate the points at which he begins and finishes asking a question, and the point at which the examinee provides his “yes” or “no” response. At”
― Philip Houston, Spy the Lie: Former CIA Officers Teach You How to Detect Deception

“We’ll delve into that seemingly paradoxical principle in the next chapter. For”
― Philip Houston, Spy the Lie: Former CIA Officers Teach You How to Detect Deception

“El silencio en respuesta a una pregunta se percibe casi universalmente como engañoso.”
― HOUSTON PHILIP, Descubre la Mentira

“Lie of commission – A lie that is conveyed by means of making a statement that is untrue. Lie of influence – A lie that is conveyed by means of attempting to manipulate perception rather than to provide truthful information. Lie of omission – A lie that is conveyed by means of withholding the truth. L-squared mode – Using one’s visual and auditory senses to look and listen simultaneously in order to observe both verbal and nonverbal deceptive behaviors as they’re exhibited in response to a question. Microexpression – A split-second movement of facial muscles that conveys an emotion such as anger, contempt, or disgust. We recommend avoiding reliance on microexpressions, due to their impracticality and the fact that there is no microexpression for deception. Mind virus – A colloquial term for the psychological discomfort a person feels when he receives information that has potentially negative consequences, causing his mind to race with hypothetical ramifications of the information. Minimization – An element within a monologue that is designed to minimize the perception of negative consequences that may be associated with sharing truthful information. Mirroring – Subtly imitating the movements or gestures of another person to enhance familiarity and liking.”
― Philip Houston, Get the Truth: Former CIA Officers Teach You How to Persuade Anyone to Tell All

“Collect information in chronological order. Otherwise, you’ll risk missing key events or confusing the suspect. •    Don’t accept information at face value. Continually test information with follow-up questions: “How do you know that to be so?” “Why do you say that?” “On what do you base that information?” •    Never be afraid to say, “I don’t understand.” Be absolutely sure to clarify anything that doesn’t make sense to you. •    Ask open-ended questions to solicit a narrative response as a means of establishing the basis for the discussion, or of probing an issue. When asking open-ended questions, allow the subject to answer without interruption—the more information he provides, the greater the likelihood that he’ll make an inconsistent statement or reveal meaningful information. You want to keep the information faucet flowing. Always test the narrative with follow-up questions.”
― Philip Houston, Get the Truth: Former CIA Officers Teach You How to Persuade Anyone to Tell All

“In order to determine whether a person is being untruthful, we need to look and listen for the first deceptive behavior to occur within the first five seconds after that stimulus is delivered. To understand why we set that span at five seconds and not, say, thirty seconds or sixty seconds, consider the fact that data from stenographers tells us that on average, we speak at a rate of 125 to 150 words per minute. Cognitive research, meanwhile, suggests that we think at least ten times faster than we speak. What that tells us is the further in time we get away from the stimulus, the higher the likelihood that the brain has gone on to thinking about something else. Our experience has shown that if we can identify the first deceptive behavior within that first five seconds, we can reasonably conclude that the behavior is directly associated with the stimulus. Let”
― Philip Houston, Spy the Lie: Former CIA Officers Teach You How to Detect Deception

“What each of us thinks of as logical is a reflection of our own beliefs, and of our own moral compass. A psychologist at the Agency hammered into us the fact that there’s only a casual relationship between human behavior and logic. And we’ve found that to absolutely be the case. Susan”
― Philip Houston, Spy the Lie: Former CIA Officers Teach You How to Detect Deception