Mind your tongue!

Is it what you said? or How you said it? Answer is - BOTH!

Speech and Linguistics

Neuro-linguistic or Psycho-linguistic analysis is used in the field by numerous Law Enforcement, Military and Intelligence agencies due to it's low tech, always available, easily situational adaptable, highly helpful screening tool.  Furthermore Voice Stress Analysis has been proven to be far more accurate then the traditional Polygraph test with success rates in the high 90's percentages..​ 

Verbal communication is the highest form of human neurological function. It directly involves 3 out of 5 senses starting with motion receptors in the ear (ear drum, 3 bones of inner ear) then converts that mechanical stimuli to electro-chemical and sends it speeding along incoming sensory nerves directly to the brain where it is redundantly sent to various areas simultaneously to be decoded and repackaged into raw input, then sent over to language area to understand the signal, then various other filters then the complete signal is sent to processing center to interpret what those words actually mean, then what you want to do with them, then how to respond to them, then what words you will use, then . . . the entire process all over again in reverse except this time outgoing nerves end in mechanical outputs via voice box, pupils response, postural muscles and more.  Next exchange starts this whole process all over again.

To make all of this more problematic, and prone to errors and misinterpretations, is this process is a ping pong game between every mind involved in it.  Witness says something once yet each juror, judge and opposing counsel runs the same processes, each in their own unique way, using their own interpretations and bias' of every word and gesture.

A trained observer with understanding of the neurology of it can in essentially "track" how and/or where in the mind a person thinks. Likewise with a solid understanding of speech synthesis patterns that various cultures use to talk, you have an very useful tool to assess past recollections and monitor real time performance. This is much the same way a naturalist can track an animal by it's footprints. A good naturalist can track where the animal was, an experienced tracker can also use that info to predict where the animal is likely to go next based on observed behaviors. Again another skill taught to Search and Rescue, Law Enforcement and Military tackers.

Just like Nonverbal communication, it is not a perfect science but it is still extremely useful in helping to comprehend someones perspectives and mindset on a situation. It is useful to see if it is an stored memory or made up story, and whether it is a complete story or rough and unpolished. All of this helps validate the strength and connect to the information being relayed.

For Witness Prep this is extremely useful in increasing the accuracy, depth and speed of behavior modification. It also provides an objective verifier that change was actually made. 

Paralinguistic Features Communicated through Voice can Affect Appraisals of Confidence and Evaluative Judgments - Journal of Nonverbal Behaviors 2021

​The voice can be a powerful source of information because it often provides valuable insight into the emotional and cognitive states of the communicator (Bänziger et al., 2014; Harrigan et al., 2008; Johnson et al., 1986; Scherer, 2019; Scherer et al., 2001). For example, studies have shown that vocal expressions of emotion can reliably inform a listener that a person is angry, sad, bored, fearful, or happy, and that the ability to recognize and distinguish among these linguistic markers of emotion transcends language barriers (Guyer et al., 2017; Juslin & Laukka, 2003). As an illustration of this phenomena, a study by Pell et al. (2009) revealed that monolinguistic native Spanish speakers were able to accurately identify vocally expressed emotions when listening to recordings in which the speaker shared their native language as well as when listening to recordings of English, Germanic, and Arabic speakers.

Importantly, emotional expressions embedded in vocal features convey information beyond the expresser’s feelings. For example, based on vocal features, people make inferences about a speaker’s traits (Guyer et al., 2018a; Pisanski & Bryant, 2019), social intentions (Fraccaro et al., 2011; Hughes et al., 2010, 2014; Leongómez et al., 2014; Pisanski et al., 2018), and appraisal of the situation (Gregory & Webster, 1996; Puts et al., 2006). Indeed, a wealth of research within psychology, communications, and linguistics has shown that listeners make a wide variety of inferences and judgments about people based on changes in their voice. According to these literatures, voice provides a wealth of information related to demographic characteristics of a person such as sex, age, and social status (e.g., Cheng et al., 2016; Ko et al., 2015), various features of personality, including pleasantness (Zuckerman & Miyake, 1993), benevolence (Brown et al., 1973), competence (Kreiman & Sidtis, 2011; Sorokowski et al., 2019), honesty and anxiety (Apple et al., 1979; Bond et al., 1987), indicators of power, such as authority (Sorokowski et al., 2019), physical size, dominance, and strength (e.g., Klofstad et al., 2015; Pisanski & Bryant, 2019; Puts et al., 2006), credibility (Chebat et al., 2007; Gelinas-Chebat & Chebat, 1992, 1999; Smith & Shaffer, 1995), emotion (e.g., Andreasen, 1981; Halberstadt, 1983), attractiveness (e.g., Babel et al., 2014; Chattopadhyay et al., 2003; Feinberg, 2008; Hughes et al., 2014; Pisanski & Feinberg, 2019; Puts, 2016), attitude (e.g., Pittam & Gallois, 1987; Scherer, 1988), and the perceived persuasiveness of the speaker (Brooke and Ng, 1986; Hall, 1980; Mehrabian & Williams, 1969; Van Zant & Berger, 2020). Taken together, these data suggest that one important feature of oral communication is that voice conveys a rich variety of information beyond the content of a message.

Guyer JJ, Briñol P, Vaughan-Johnston TI, Fabrigar LR, Moreno L, Petty RE. Paralinguistic Features Communicated through Voice can Affect Appraisals of Confidence and Evaluative Judgments. J Nonverbal Behav. 2021;45(4):479-504. doi: 10.1007/s10919-021-00374-2. Epub 2021 Jul 6. PMID: 34744233; PMCID: PMC8553728.

Check out our other posts in Witness Prep series to give you a better handle

 on Psychology of Stress and Behavior Modification