Cody Porter, PhD, SFHEA, CPsychol
University of the West of England (UWE) Bristol

Learning about research methods and developing research analysis skills is a daunting experience for new university students. Established three years ago, the Deception Lab at the University of the West of England (UWE) Bristol represents a pioneering approach to teaching such research skills to undergraduate psychology students. This essay explores the process of creating the lab and argues that research-informed teaching labs offer superior methods for imparting research skills to students.

A research-informed teaching lab is an educational environment where teaching is closely integrated with research activities. This approach ensures that the latest research findings and methodologies directly inform and enhance the teaching process. This can be established in several ways:

1. Integration of Research and Teaching: Staff members incorporate their research into the curriculum (or an alternative optional lab), allowing students to engage with cutting-edge knowledge and practices. I chose an optional lab as the number of students in Psychology usually exceeds 100. In year one of the lab, I had a cohort of 50 students (from first-year to final-year students). This number increased to 70 students the following year, and I have kept that as my limit.
2. Active Learning: Students should have the opportunity to participate in co-creating research projects. This creates a hands-on learning experience that promotes critical thinking and problem-solving skills. It is also a great way to subtly introduce research methods skills. I do this through the co-creation of a research project in the second term of the academic year. This is based upon students' interests within the investigative interviewing and lie detection fields. For example, the students have conducted research on various aspects of rapport building, using a range of different lie detection tools (Porter et al., 2020).
3. Evidence-Based Practices: Teaching methods should be informed by research on effective learning strategies, ensuring that instruction is grounded in empirical evidence. As a Senior Fellow of Advanced Higher Education, I used peer scaffolding to allow students who have research experience to mentor and support those who do not. Additionally, students found the opportunity to work with a subject expert exciting. They felt more comfortable developing research projects using tools that I had designed (i.e., Porter et al., 2020; 2023; 2025).
4. Collaborative Environment: Students and staff should work together on research initiatives, creating a collaborative and dynamic learning atmosphere. This is core to the process. Students need to be able to conduct research outside of supervision to be able to develop those independent skills. I do this in the second term as students are usually more confident in how to design and conduct research. Importantly, students in my lab are not required to have any prior research methods skills, as they can join during their first year of study.
5. Opportunities for Advancement: Students should have opportunities to develop different skills, so that the lab becomes unique to them. I do this by providing mentoring opportunities and paid research assistant roles for projects that are only open to Deception Lab students. This motivates students to engage with the lab as they value having access to these bespoke opportunities, which capitalise on the skills they have learned.

This approach enhances the quality of education and prepares students for future research and professional endeavours.

The Establishment of the Deception Lab

The Deception Lab was established to provide students with hands-on experience in detecting dishonest responses in interview settings, while subtly providing them with opportunities to enhance their understanding of research methods. In the end-of-year course surveys, students often reported that they struggled with the research methods modules, particularly with quantitative analyses. Several final-year students felt they did not get enough opportunities to practice research skills before doing their undergraduate dissertation project.

The lab's primary objective was to bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application, fostering a deeper understanding of research methodologies and their real-world implications. This meant drawing from a field of psychology that would allow the students to gain other useful career-building skills. For example, students are trained in rapport-building skills by a former police interviewer with over 15 years of experience conducting interviews. Outside of the lab, access to this would not be possible.

To set up a research-informed teaching lab, there must be a cohort of students who are interested in a particular topic, ideally beyond research methods. This is especially important if the lab is not part of a learning module, as there will be no assessments, and attendance is optional. I began this process by having a 2-page expression of interest form about how the lab would help the students with their studies and long-term career plans. This was followed by a research event, whereby students got to participate in various studies. This gave them more of an insight into how lie-detection research functions.

The initial application process provided students with experience in applying for positions, and those who were unsuccessful were invited to reapply the following year. This also ensured that students who had secured a position were more likely to commit to the bi-weekly teaching, training or lab sessions. To help encourage engagement, some activities include reflective writing tasks, which are not accessed but can be used to help staff when writing reference letters. This includes when students apply for paid research assistant positions within the department, postgraduate programmes, or jobs once they graduate.

Other activities included students finding resources (i.e., lie-detection videos on YouTube or journal articles), which we would discuss. This mixture of fun and academic skill-based activities meant that students felt they had ownership over their learning.

Teaching and learning

Research-based teaching is an educational approach where teaching is directly informed by the academic's own research activities. As an academic who specialises in investigative interviewing and lie detection, I had the ability to train students in rapport building and the use of specific lie detection tools, such as the Asymmetric Information Management (AIM) technique (Porter et al., 2020; 2023; 2025), the Model Statement (Leal at al., 2015; Porter et al., 2018; Porter & Salvanelli, 2020), and the polygraph (via the BIOPAC physiological measurement system). Through the Deception Lab, students learn how to be critical of pseudo-scientific approaches, such as the polygraph, through hands-on learning. They also learn how some lie detection tools, such as the Model Statement, do not meet the scientific standards for use in practice due to a failure to replicate or a lack of a robust theoretical underpinning (Porter et al., 2021).

This approach to teaching and learning encourages student engagement. A recent systematic literature review highlighted that teacher support significantly enhances student engagement (Prananto et al., 2025). As Prananto and colleagues (2025) suggest, fostering a positive, supportive learning climate improves learning. This can be achieved through implementing instructional strategies that address students’ psychological needs, such as encouraging autonomy through participatory learning methods, providing constructive feedback to boost competence, and building inclusive environments that foster a sense of belonging. When teachers integrate their research into teaching, students feel more supported and motivated, leading to better academic performance and engagement. For the Deception Lab, students learn how to identify which lie detection tools are evidence-based and which tools should be used in practice (Porter et al., 2021).

Lab Structure

The Deception Lab has a learning structure that changes every year based on the lie deception field and the experiences of the current students. Teaching consists of a combination of lectures, workshops, and practical lab sessions. This approach emphasizes experiential learning and is guided by continuous student feedback. For example, in the first year the sessions were driven by what I thought was important for students to learn. As time progressed, students were able to tailor the content to match their own interests.

Lectures are designed to provide foundational knowledge and theoretical insights into deception detection. Workshops offer interactive opportunities for students to engage with the material, discuss case studies, and develop critical thinking skills. Practical lab sessions allow students to apply their knowledge by conducting experiments and analysing data related to detecting deception.

By continuously adapting the curriculum and incorporating student feedback, the Deception Lab ensures that the learning experience remains relevant, dynamic, and effective. This flexible and responsive teaching model not only enhances student engagement but also prepares them for the complexities of research in the field of lie detection.

Developing Experiments Enhances Learning

Research-led education has been shown to improve students' understanding and appreciation of research. Students value the enthusiasm and expertise of their teachers, which enhances their learning experience (Jiang & Roberts, 2011). Throughout the taught sessions and practical workshops, students learn to use a variety of different lie detection tools. This gives them the opportunity to consider which tool they would like to work with over the next academic year.

During the first term, students have the opportunity to actively participate in co-creating projects, enhancing their practical skills and understanding of research methodologies. This involves planning research that is designed to test specific predictions. Students also learn about the ethical standards that a psychologist should adhere to, including maintaining confidentiality, obtaining informed consent, and ensuring the welfare of participants. These ethical principles are crucial for conducting responsible and respectful research, and they help students understand the importance of integrity and professionalism in their work.

During the second term, students submit a group-based project to the ethics committee and then collect data for the project they have co-created. As part of this project, students learn how to detect deception using verbal cues and how to empirically evaluate them using statistical techniques.

Research Methods Skills

Research-informed teaching offers several advantages over traditional teaching methods. Students engage in inquiry-based learning, which promotes critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Students learn to formulate hypotheses, design experiments, and analyse data. Students in the lab appear more confident in their abilities to conduct research. This includes designing their own research projects.

To support learning, students are encouraged to complete a self-reflection (Gibbs, 1988) alongside their first research project. This allows them to track their progress in a way that is meaningful to them. At the end of data collection for their first project, students were invited to a workshop where they discussed their experiences. Those students who completed the self-reflection were invited to talk about how this activity helped them to understand how their skills were developing. To encourage students to engage with this, I informed them that these reflections are included in a learning portfolio, which serves as a valuable resource for supporting their references when applying for postgraduate study or employment.

To create an effective teaching environment, students need to feel able to make mistakes. As the lab is completely optional, students typically report feeling more comfortable trying to develop projects. This is also true for data analysis. Alongside the Deception Lab, year one students are learning about research methods through their statistics module. The Deception Lab provides an opportunity to apply these skills with their peers, using data they collected. Students often report having a higher level of statistical understanding after practising analysing data using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), t-tests, and discriminant analysis. These analyses are typically used in lie detection research (Porter et al., 2018; 2023; 2025), which means that the students can look at published examples to support their learning.

Additional Skills

Working in a research lab encourages collaboration and communication among students. These skills are essential for successful research and are highly valued in the professional world. In a lab setting, students often work in teams to design experiments, collect and analyze data, and present their findings. This collaborative environment fosters a sense of community and shared purpose, helping students learn to navigate group dynamics, delegate tasks, and leverage each other's strengths.

Students gain hands-on experience with research tools and techniques, enhancing their methodological skills. This practical experience is invaluable for their future careers, particularly in fields that require strong research capabilities. For those aspiring to become forensic psychologists, this journey involves understanding the complexities of human behaviour, mastering the art of deception detection, and applying psychological principles in legal contexts. The skills and knowledge acquired in the Deception Lab provide a solid foundation for their future roles, enabling them to conduct thorough investigations, provide expert testimony, and contribute to the justice system with confidence and integrity.

Summary

The Deception Lab at UWE Bristol serves as an exemplary model of research-informed teaching. Students learn how to establish rapport with interviewees and use various lie detection tools effectively. Through this process, they become experienced learners who start to develop curiosity. As an additional option, students can take part in a research project that they co-create, providing them with support for learning research methods in a non-traditional format. The Deception Lab demonstrates the effectiveness of research-informed teaching in developing research skills outside of the classroom. By providing a hands-on, inquiry-based learning environment, the lab enhances critical thinking, real-world application, engagement, methodological skills, and collaboration. As higher education continues to evolve, research-informed teaching labs like the Deception Lab will play a crucial role in preparing students for the challenges of the future.

References

Gibbs, G. (1988). Learning by doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods. Further Education Unit.

Jiang, F., & Roberts, P. (2011). An Investigation of the Impact of Research-led Education on Student Learning and Understandings of Research. Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice, 8(2), 39-53. https://doi.org/10.53761/1.8.2.4

Leal, S., Vrij, A., Warmelink, L., Vernham, Z., & Fisher, R. P. (2015). You cannot hide your telephone lies: Providing a model statement as an aid to detect deception in insurance telephone calls. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 20(1), 129-146. https://doi.org/10.1111/lcrp.12017

Porter, C. N., & Salvanelli, G. (2020). Eliciting information and cues to deception using a model statement: Examining the effect of presentation modality. Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, 17(2), 101-117. https://doi.org/10.1002/jip.1541

Porter, C. N., Morrison, E., Fitzgerald, R. J., Taylor, R., & Harvey, A. C. (2020). Lie-detection by strategy manipulation: Developing an asymmetric information management (AIM) technique. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 9(2), 232-241. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2020.01.004

Porter, C. N., Taylor, R., & Salvanelli, G. (2021). A critical analysis of the Model Statement literature: Should this tool be used in practice? Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, 18(1), 35-55. https://doi.org/10.1002/jip.1563

Porter, C. N., Taylor, R., Lee, R., Chioatto, E., Hill, M., & Harvey, A. C. (2023). Applying the asymmetric information management (AIM) technique to virtual interviewing. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 37(3), 470-479. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.4049

Porter, C. N., Vrij, A., Leal, S., Vernham, Z., Salvanelli, G., & McIntyre, N. (2018). Using specific model statements to elicit information and cues to deceit in information-gathering interviews. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 7(1), 132-142. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2017.10.003

Porter, C., Morrison, E., Harvey, A., & Taylor, R. (2025). Complications and consistency: investigating the asymmetric information management ‘AIM’technique with follow-up statements. Psychology, Crime & Law, 31(1), 41-63. https://doi.org/10.1080/1068316X.2023.2229478

Prananto, K., Cahyadi, S., Lubis, F. Y., & Hinduan, Z. R. (2025). Perceived teacher support and student engagement among higher education students–a systematic literature review. BMC Psychology, 13(1), 112. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-025-02412-w