Communicationstechnologiesarefarfromequalwhenitcomestoconveyingthetruth．Thefirststudytocomparehonestyacrossarangeofcommunicationmediahasfoundthatpeoplearetwiceaslikelytotellliesinphoneconversationsastheyareinemails．Thefactthatemailsareautomaticallyrecorded—andcancomebacktopuzzleyou---appearstobethekeytothefinding．

JeffHancockofCornellUniversityinIthaca,NewYork,asked30studentstokeepacommunicationsdiaryforaweek．Inittheynotedthenumberofconversationsoremailexchangestheyhadlastingmorethan10minutes,andconfessedtohowmanyliestheytold．Hancockthenworkedoutthenumberofliesperconversationforeachmedium．Hefoundthatliesmadeup14percentofemails,21percentofinstantmessages,27percentofface-to-faceinteractionsandanastonishing37percentofphonecalls．

Hisresultstobepresentedattheconferenceonhuman-computerinteractioninVienna,Austria,inApril,havesurprisedpsychologists．Someexpectedemailerstobethebiggestliars,reasoningthatbecausedeceptionmakespeopleuncomfortable,theindirectcontactofemailingwouldmakeiteasiertolie．Othersexpectedpeopletoliemoreinface-to-faceexchangesbecausewearemostpracticedatthatformofcommunication．

ButHancocksaysitisalsocrucialwhetheraconversationisbeingrecordedandcouldbereread,andwhetheritoccursinrealtime．Peopleappeartobeafraidtoliewhentheyknowthecommunicationcouldlaterbeusedtoholdthemtoaccount,hesays．Thisiswhyfewerliesappearinemailthanonthephone．

Peoplearealsomorelikelytolieinrealtime---inaninstantmessageorphonecall,say---thaniftheyhavetimetothinkofaresponse,saysHancock．Hefoundmanyliesarespontaneous（脱口而出）responsestoanunexpecteddemand,suchas:“Doyoulikemydress?”

Hancockhopeshisresearchwillhelpcompaniesworkoutthebestwaysfortheiremployeestocommunicate．Forinstance,thephonemightbethebestmediumforsaleswhereemployeesareencouragedtostretchthetruth．But,givenhisresult,workassessmentwherehonestyisapriority,mightbebestdoneusingemail．

小题1:Hancock’sstudyfocuseson_______．