Liars had lower self-esteem than those who spoke the truth. Not easy to detect the signs of deception with the offender population.Some of the signs apply, e.g. This course examines that activity in a variety of deceptive communication practices along with their causes and consequences. However, the ability to detect deception is just as important as the ability to deceive. 2 When the white lies go past the harmless "trying to protect your feelings" variety, they enter deceptive territory. When loved ones notice a pattern of deception that seems out of character, it may be an early indicator of an underlying cognitive impairment. McCarthy concluded that Travis was engaged in a "gross deception" and had even been intentionally holding his breath in an attempt to "beat the machine". When we think of lies, we think of the big stuff. We say, "I could never do something like that.