Tell me more ×
Skeptics Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for scientific skepticism. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 11 down vote favorite
4

I have heard that people look up and to the left if they are not truthful, and up and to the right if they are telling the truth. Is there any truth to this?

share|improve this question
4  
was the person telling you this story looking up to the left or to the right?....+1 for entertaining factor – Werner Schmitt Jul 9 '11 at 21:21
i'd like to see the mythbusters test this one! :) – russau Feb 7 '12 at 1:46

2 Answers

up vote 3 down vote accepted

You are probably talking about eye accessing cue of NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming). (ps: I can't add the tag on your question)

NLP is a pseudo-science and many skeptics & experts expressed their opinion in various documents.

Critisisms about NLP commonly mention:

  • It's a pseudo-science (no scientific proof provided)
  • It references to outdated theories
  • It use manipulation and misinterpretation
  • It may be sectarian in some cases

NLP is a huge success because it makes people believe they will be able to control others.

I firmly believe NLP is a huge brainscam.

Additional references:

share|improve this answer
1  
Welcome to Skeptics! We expect users to back up any significant claim with a reliable source. You cite Wikipedia in this answer, please follow up to the primary literature and cite that, Wikipedia alone is not enough. NLP also seems to be a bunch of different methods, the answer would benefit from a critique specific to the eye accessing cue, not NLP in general. – Fabian♦ Jul 10 '11 at 10:43
3  
@Fabian: I wish I could. I was not able to add more than 2 links (because I have less than 150 points of reputation), so I kept the two that lists all the scientific references, rather that putting all links directly. – user3979 Jul 10 '11 at 10:45
1  
I understand the frustration, I have argued to remove that restriction a while ago. It is only for users below 10 reputation though, so you should now be able to add in the references. – Fabian♦ Jul 10 '11 at 10:54
2  
You can't charge at the same time that NLP manipulates people and that it doesn't work. You either burn witches or you admit that there's no real witchcraft. – Christian Jul 10 '11 at 11:00
1  
@Christian: NLP doesn't work, so NLP is not used to manipulate people and make them believe in NLP. Other well known mechanisms are used instead, such as exploiting human's need for hope, control, aversion, etc, like any other sales men will use to sell any product. – user3979 Jul 10 '11 at 11:39
show 3 more comments
up vote 3 down vote

Richard Bandler and John Grinder proposed in Frog into Princes that the direction in which people look when they access information has something to do with the mental processes that they use to access the information.

The proposed that subjects look instinctively to their right when they construct a new mental image but look to their left when they remember something.

They propose the principle as a general rule but at the same time assert that there are individuals differences between people. An NLP practitioner is supposed to look whether the rule applies to a certain individual at certain question where he knows that the person remembers something to calibrate to the specific individual.

NLP practitioners are supposed to train their calibration skills through practice. As far as I know there are no studies that investigate whether trained NLP practictioners can use the eye accessing cues to infer something about the mental state of another person.

Kevin Hogan did an experiment in which he tried to test his interpretation of NLP's eye accessing cues. He found that eye accessing cues didn't work the way he saw them portrayed in the NLP literature.

NLP practitioners on the other hand assert that Hogan's experiment tested a misunderstanding of their eye accessing cues concept.

In any case it isn't as simple as having a straightforward rule that you precisely whether the other person is lying.

share|improve this answer
This aspect of NLP is used by Derren Brown in stage shows, and is reliable in untrained liars so long as you first check with some neutral questions the direction the person looks when they tell the truth (it changes from person to person). When a person is lying, they tend to do something different. Brown is using this cue, and other body and language cues, for lying. You can tell that he isn't using other methods both because he can't control the balls, and further, because the trick sometimes fails on an occasion where a truth-telling person acts strangely, as attested by audience members. – Ron Maimon Nov 27 '12 at 14:59

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.