Computational Analysis of Lexical and Cohesion Differences in Deceptive Language: The Role of Accordance

In this study, two advanced computational text analysis tools were used to catalogue lexical and cohesive features of deceptive language and language accordance (i.e., agreement/disagreement on topic of conversation) in a corpus of dyadic conversations. The study specifically focused on how the variable of accordance conditions the process of deception in terms of lexical and cohesive features. The results indicated that there is no interaction between deception and accordance in deceptive conversations in terms of cohesive or lexical sophistication indices. The results also did not show main effect for indices of cohesion and lexical sophistication for deceptive versus non-deceptive conversations. However, main effects were observed for indices of cohesion and lexical sophistication in distinguishing conversations characterized by agreement or disagreement. The linguistic differences related to the cohesive and lexical sophistication aspects of agreement versus disagreement conversations are discussed.