This month welcomes the national conventions of both the Democratic and Republican parties of the U.S., and like any political season the news is often dominated by politics. Over the years, the American public (as in many other countries) has grown to be quite wary of less-than-truthful claims in politics, by politicians, and lying, credibility,…
Read MoreThe Funnel Approach to Questioning and Eliciting Information
Written for Tactics and Preparedness, Issue 15, January 2015 By Dr. David Matsumoto, Dr. Hyisung Hwang and Vincent Sandoval Broadly speaking, elicitation refers to procedures or techniques involving interacting with and communicating with others, formally or informally, that is designed to gather knowledge or inform. Eliciting information from anyone who is uncooperative is a difficult task. Elicitation can occur in many different contexts,…
Read MoreHow Gestures Can Boost Children’s Vocabulary
Originally published in Scientific American written by Janelle Weaver. New research suggests that meaningful gestures and glances may help children learn more words, independent of how much parents talk to them Children with a large vocabulary experience more success at school and in the workplace. How much parents talk to their children plays a major…
Read MoreDetecting Deception: Are You Being Lied to?
Written for Tactics and Preparedness, Issue 6, April 2014 By Dr. Hyi Sung Hwang and Dr. David Matsumoto Behavioral anomalies are verbal and nonverbal signs of cognitions and emotions that give additional clues to what an individual is thinking and feeling beyond the content of the words being spoken. We can improve our ability to…
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