Anatomy of deception: a behavioral contingency analysis.

Deception, a basic and pervasive biological phenomenon, takes many forms, variously referred to as mimicry, trickery, seduction, pretense, feigning, masquerading, impersonation, distraction, or false promises, and these share certain common distinguishing behavioral elements that permit them to be classified into categories. A symbolic language for the codification and analysis of behavioral contingencies shows that all instances of deception are based on a misperception, misprediction, non-perception, or non-prediction by the deceived party, and can be further categorized based on features of the contingencies that define them. Instances of particular interest are those in which a deceiving party predicts (and in that sense "intends") the deception. In those instances, the effect of the deception is usually to the deceiving party's benefit and to the deceived party's detriment. In economics, finance, business, military operations, public affairs, education, and everyday social interaction, deception takes numerous forms. Special forms, usually involving obfuscation, concealment, counterfeiting, and misrepresentation, occur in certain prevalent types of property transfer, including securitization, the creation of derivatives, and various types of Ponzi schemes. Such property transfers tend to be driven by opportunities for deception. They all involve blurring and clouding of the contingencies that defined the transferred properties, thus permitting their obfuscation.