Extralinguistic markers of lies in speech communication and their role in legal practice

The article presents the results of a study conducted on the basis of the National Research University “MIET” in the period from 2023 to 2025. The purpose of the study is to identify extralinguistic markers among students of technical and humanitarian fields studying in grades 1-4, as well as to analyze the results obtained in terms of their application in legal practice. In total, 25 groups of students participated in the study, each of which had an average of 25 people (about 650 participants in total). The experimental base of the study was formed on the basis of the work of P. Ekman, who carried out a series of experiments in 1970 aimed at identifying indicators of lies in speech communication. In Ekman’s experiments, the subjects were medical college students who watched the “worst content” – videos of complex surgical operations – and were not supposed to show negative emotions. In the presented experiment, the “worst content” was replaced with materials with humorous coloring or with elements of heightwatching. The results of the work made it possible to identify 9 categories of lies: facial and eye expressions, body position, manipulation of objects, patterns of behavior, physiological changes, verbal signals, behavioral aspects, cognitive difficulties, speech reactions. In addition, 26 different emotional reactions were identified. The repeatability of reactions by participants from different groups and courses, the duration of the experimental study (5 semesters) gave reason to believe that the results of the study are reliable and can be used in legal practice.