Hello E.,

You win the "nice catch" award, but not for the reason you may think. The above chart is a summary of decades worth of research and some studies have tested for the same behavioral cues but had different results. However, the very data point that you highlighted - nervous, tense - had the wrong sign. I mistakingly put it in the chart as -0.35, when, in fact, "nervous, tense" is positively correlated with lying/deceit behaviors.

As for testing intuition...it is difficult. However, the studies that have been done have been in a laboratory-like setting where the researcher knows which statements being communicated by a test subject are lies. Additionally, to increase the level of stress felt by a test subject who is asked to lie/deceive often times economic incentives are provided such that if they are caught they do not make as much money. Don't worry, the monetary amounts are likely not signficant enough to cause a permanent change in the behavior of the test subject.

Thanks again for your catch!

Jason