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SCAN (Scientific Content Analysis)

Definition

A proprietary statement-analysis method developed by Avinoam Sapir that claims to identify deceptive content in written statements through analysis of linguistic features including pronoun use, missing time, and unexplained information changes.

Related terms

Base rate problem
The statistical challenge facing any deception-detection method: if only a minority of statements examined are actually deceptive, even a method that is...
Extraneous information
Information in a statement that the SCAN analyst judges to be beyond the stated scope of the question. SCAN treats such additions...
Ground truth
In deception-detection research, independently verified knowledge of whether a statement was truthful or deceptive, established through confession, DNA, or other objective means,...
Lack of conviction
A SCAN category covering hedging phrases like 'I think', 'I believe', 'I don't remember', which Sapir proposes signal deception because a person...
Pronoun shift
A SCAN indicator based on the claim that deceptive writers drop first-person pronouns or shift to third-person reference when describing events they...

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