# Truth-default theory (TDT) An [[Reasoning, abductive|abductive]] theory by Timothy R. Levine about [[Deception|deception]] and deception detection that emphasizes contextualized communication over non-verbal behaviours associated with [[Emotion|emotion]], arousal, strategic self-presentation, or cognitive effort.[^1] The big idea here is that people tend to believe other people are being honest and telling the truth. What’s new with this theory is that this presumption is adaptive at both the individual and species level. People are generally truthful, but this also makes us more vulnerable to being lied to. Levine says the theory is modular, and composed of a number of smaller theories and models that ground the theory in data-based propositions. ###### References - [[levine2014TruthDefaultTheoryTDT|Levine, T. R. (2014). Truth-Default Theory (TDT): A Theory of Human Deception and Deception Detection.]] - [[gladwell2019TalkingStrangersWhat|Gladwell, M. (2019). Talking to strangers: What we should know about the people we don’t know.]] - [[levine2021DistrustFalseCues|Levine, T. R. (2021). Distrust, False Cues, and Below-Chance Deception Detection Accuracy: Commentary on Stel et al. (2020) and Further Reflections on (Un)Conscious Lie Detection From the Perspective of Truth-Default Theory]] > [!cite]- Reference > ```dataview > TABLE WITHOUT ID > link(file.path, title) AS "Title", > type AS "Type", > keywords AS "Keywords" > FROM "50 Reference" > WHERE contains(keywords, this.file.link) > SORT type, title asc > ``` [^1]: [[levine2014TruthDefaultTheoryTDT|Levine, T. R. (2014). Truth-Default Theory (TDT): A Theory of Human Deception and Deception Detection.]]