After reading each short passage below, please rate what the character says in terms of the two words 'lie' and 'bullshit.' How much of a lie do you think it was? How much bullshit do you think it was? The scale goes from 1 to 7, with 1 meaning 'not a lie' or 'not bullshit' and 7 meaning 'a lie' or 'bullshit'. Please give a rating for each word by clicking on the buttons that look like this:. Try to use the entire scale. You may also qualify your answers by writing additional comments in the text boxes.
-
Kayla has eaten all the cookies Alondra was intending to take to her friend's party. Alondra asks Kayla, "Did you eat all my cookies?" Kayla says, "No."
How would you rate what Kayla says?
How much of a lie is it?
not a lie [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] a lie
How much bullshit is it?
not bullshit [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] bullshit
Please feel free to write any comments below:
-
"This is absolutely delicious!" says Shayla after taking her first bite of the meal that Faisal has just prepared for the two of them. Faisal cooks well and loves to cook, though he has never been a professional chef. Even so, wanting to impress Shayla further, he says, "Oh yes, I used to be a chef at Chez Panisse."
How would you rate what Faisal says?
How much of a lie is it?
not a lie [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] a lie
How much bullshit is it?
not bullshit [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] bullshit
Please feel free to write any comments below:
-
George, Kaleb, and Ty are playing golf. Ty accidentally steps on George's ball. When George arrives and sees his ball mashed into the turf, he says, "Kaleb, did you step on my ball?" Kaleb replies, "No, Ty did it," to Ty's chagrin.
How would you rate what Kaleb says?
How much of a lie is it?
not a lie [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] a lie
How much bullshit is it?
not bullshit [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] bullshit
Please feel free to write any comments below:
-
Thinking she is alone in the apartment, Melanie is writing in her diary when in walks Justin, a friend of her housemate. "What are you writing there?" he asks, trying to start a friendly conversation. Melanie says, "None of your business!"
How would you rate what Melanie says?
How much of a lie is it?
not a lie [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] a lie
How much bullshit is it?
not bullshit [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] bullshit
Please feel free to write any comments below:
-
Paul believes he has to pass the corner store to get to the video arcade, but he is wrong about this because the corner store has closed down. Paul's mother doesn't approve of video games. As he is going out the door intending to go to the arcade, Paul's mother asks him where he is going. He says, "I'm going by the corner store."
How would you rate what Paul says?
How much of a lie is it?
not a lie [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] a lie
How much bullshit is it?
not bullshit [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] bullshit
Please feel free to write any comments below:
-
At the annual office softball event, Akira has just struck out for the third time during the game. As he is walking back to the dugout with his head down, his fellow teammate Valerie glares at him and shouts in exasperation, "Good job, Akira!"
How would you rate what Valerie says?
How much of a lie is it?
not a lie [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] a lie
How much bullshit is it?
not bullshit [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] bullshit
Please feel free to write any comments below:
-
One morning Katerina has a test in algebra she hasn't studied for, and so she doesn't want to go to school. She says to her mother, "I"m sick." Her mother takes her temperature, and it turns out to Katerina's surprise that she really is sick, later that day developing chicken pox.
How would you rate what Katerina says?
How much of a lie is it?
not a lie [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] a lie
How much bullshit is it?
not bullshit [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] bullshit
Please feel free to write any comments below:
-
Cody hasn't done the reading for science class and knows nothing about astronomy. His teacher says, "Now, to review last night's reading, who can name one gaseous object in our solar system?" Believing his answer to be false, but not wanting to miss the opportunity to make a joke, Cody raises his hand smiling and says, "Uranus!" When the laughter dies down, the teacher says to Cody's surprise, "Very cute, Cody. Please see me after class. But I have to admit that you're absolutely right!"
How would you rate what Cody says?
How much of a lie is it?
not a lie [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] a lie
How much bullshit is it?
not bullshit [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] bullshit
Please feel free to write any comments below:
-
Havel is invited to dinner at his boss's house. After a dismal evening enjoyed by no one, Havel says to his boss's wife, "Thanks, it was a great party." Not believing it was a great party, and not really trying to convince anyone, Havel is hoping to curry favor by saying something nice to his boss's wife, even though he doesn't expect her to believe it.
How would you rate what Havel says?
How much of a lie is it?
not a lie [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] a lie
How much bullshit is it?
not bullshit [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] bullshit
Please feel free to write any comments below:
-
Lana and Jasmine are in a bar having drinks. Looking across the room Lana notices a man who looks familiar kissing the woman beside him. Not believing he could possibly be who he appears to be, and hoping to have a bit of fun at her friend's expense, Lana leans over to Jasmine and says, "Hey, Jasmine, your boyfriend's over there kissing his 'other woman.'" But the laughter dies in Lana's throat as Jasmine goes over to the man (who really is her boyfriend) and throws her drink in his face.
How would you rate what Lana says?
How much of a lie is it?
not a lie [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] a lie
How much bullshit is it?
not bullshit [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] bullshit
Please feel free to write any comments below:
-
Jake and Maria have recently started dating. Xavier is Maria's ex-boyfriend. One evening Jake asks Maria, "Have you seen Xavier this week?" Maria answers, "Xavier's been sick with mononucleosis for the past two weeks." Xavier has in fact been sick with mononucleosis for the past two weeks, but it is also the case that Maria had a date with Xavier the night before.
How would you rate what Maria says?
How much of a lie is it?
not a lie [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] a lie
How much bullshit is it?
not bullshit [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] bullshit
Please feel free to write any comments below:
-
Zoe comes out of the changing room to show Omar the suit she's tried on. "Doesn't it make my shoulders look too big?" she asks. Omar says, "It's just the shoulder pads, Baby."—"But there aren't any shoulder pads!" she cries.
How would you rate what Omar says?
How much of a lie is it?
not a lie [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] a lie
How much bullshit is it?
not bullshit [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] bullshit
Please feel free to write any comments below:
-
Two people are sitting in separate rooms waiting for the doctor to come in and see them. In the corridor outside Room C the doctor asks Nurse Agas, "Is the patient in Room C for the prostate exam or for his prognosis?" Though Nurse Agas has just read the charts, she confuses the two in her mind and replies, "The prostate," when in fact the patient in Room C is the one scheduled to hear his prognosis.
How would you rate what Agas says?
How much of a lie is it?
not a lie [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] a lie
How much bullshit is it?
not bullshit [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] bullshit
Please feel free to write any comments below:
-
Jessica puts some punch along with a healthy dose of hot pepper sauce into a cup to give to Liam as a joke. Unbeknown to both Jessica and Liam, Porter has spiked the punch with a whole fifth of vodka. Jessica walks over to Liam and hands him her concoction, saying, "Don't worry, there's no alcohol in it."
How would you rate what Jessica says?
How much of a lie is it?
not a lie [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] a lie
How much bullshit is it?
not bullshit [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] bullshit
Please feel free to write any comments below:
-
Ferris has got tickets for the championship game and is very proud of them. He shows them to his boss, who says, "Listen, Ferris, any day you don't come in to work, just please tell me something better than you're going to see a game." Ferris says, "Okay, I will." On the day of the game, Ferris wakes up with a slight stomach ache, but otherwise feels healthy. He calls in and says, "I can't come to work today, Boss, because I'm sick." Ironically, Ferris doesn't get to go to the game after all, because the slight stomach ache quickly turns into a violent case of food poisoning. So Ferris really was sick when he said he was.
How would you rate what Ferris says?
How much of a lie is it?
not a lie [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] a lie
How much bullshit is it?
not bullshit [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] bullshit
Please feel free to write any comments below:
-
Young is looking through the mail he has just brought in and he notices that there's a postcard from his sister's boyfriend Glen stuck between two catalogs. His sister comes in and asks him, "Is there a postcard from Glen?" Knowing full well that she's been expecting a postcard from Glen, Young holds up the catalogs and says, "Well, here's a couple of catalogs you might be interested in."
How would you rate what Young says?
How much of a lie is it?
not a lie [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] a lie
How much bullshit is it?
not bullshit [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] bullshit
Please feel free to write any comments below:
How would you rate the importance of the following elements of the word 'lie' or 'bullshit' on a scale of 1 to 7, with 1 being not important at all and 7 being very important?
Thank you very much for your participation in this study! Now, if you're ready, please click the [Send] button below. This will generate an email message with your responses addressed to me. Please be careful not to click the [Reset] button unless you want to clear all your answers!