Othello error

English Etymology From Shakespeare's play Othello, in which the title character misinterprets his wife's distress as proof of her infidelity. Noun An erroneous conclusion that someone is lying based on signs of stress. en 1995 Proceedings of the Annual Meeting, National Academy of Arbitrators 0871795396 Out of such turmoil, it must be expected that some significant percent of Othello errors (false positives) will subsequently be improperly scored as hits when innocent subjects "confess" in return for a reduced charge. en 2011 Social Communication Klaus Fiedler 327 1136872426 The relatively low accuracy rates for detecting truths in CQT polygraph research (discussed before) is perhaps the result of the Othello error (Ofshe & Leo, 1997). en 2013 Forensic Interviewing: For Law Enforcement Kelly D. Harrison 75 1483623939 Ekman said the Othello error stems from a truthful person being afraid of not being believed. en 2014 Encyclopedia of Deception Timothy R. Levine 740 1483388980 The Othello error is a common occurrence in traditional lie detection, which departs from the stress-based approach to lying. en eponyms en William Shakespeare