scholarly journals Memory-based Deception Detection: Extending the Cognitive Signature of Lying from Instructed to Self-Initiated Cheating

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Marjoleine Geven ◽  
Gershon Ben-Shakhar ◽  
Merel Kindt ◽  
Bruno Verschuere
Keyword(s):  
Deception Detection ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Ecological Validity ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Concealed Information Test ◽  
Truth Telling ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Mock Crime ◽  
Study Participants ◽  
Concealed Information

From a cognitive perspective, lying can be regarded as a complex cognitive process requiring the interplay of several executive functions. Meta-analytic research on 114 studies encompassing 3307 participants (Suchotzki et al., 2017) suggests that computerized paradigms can reliably assess the cognitive burden of lying, with large reaction time differences between lying and truth telling. These studies, however, lack a key ingredient of real-life deception, namely self-initiated cheating. Research participants have typically been instructed to commit a mock crime and conceal critical information, whereas in real life, people freely choose whether or not to engage in antisocial behavior. In this study, participants (n = 433) engaged in a trivia quiz and were provided with a monetary incentive for high accuracy performance. Participants were randomly allocated to either a condition where they were instructed to cheat on the quiz (mimicking the typical laboratory set-up) or to a condition in which they were provided with the opportunity to cheat, yet without explicit instructions to do so. Assessments of their response times in a subsequent Concealed Information Test (CIT) revealed that both instructed cheaters (n = 107) and self-initiated cheaters (n = 142) showed the expected RT-slowing for concealed information. The data indicate that the cognitive signature of lying is not restricted to explicitly instructed cheating, but can also be observed for self-initiated cheating. These findings are highly encouraging from an ecological validity perspective.

scholarly journals Familiarity-based fillers improve the validity of reaction time-based memory detection

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno Verschuere ◽  
Gáspár Lukács ◽  
Bennett Kleinberg
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Concealed Information Test ◽  
Test Protocol ◽  
Single Probe ◽  
Multiple Probe ◽  
Concealed Information ◽  
Information Test

The reaction time (RT)-based Concealed Information Test (CIT) allows for the detection of concealed knowledge (e.g., one’s true identity) when the questions are presented randomly (multiple-probe protocol), but its performance is much weaker when questions are presented in blocks (e.g., first question about surname, then about birthday; single-probe protocol). The latter test protocol, however, is the preferred and sometimes even the only feasible interviewing method in real-life. In a first, pre-registered, experiment (n = 363), we show that the validity of the single-probe protocol version can be substantially improved by including familiarity-related filler trials (e.g., “KNOWN,” “UNKNOWN”). We replicated these findings in a second, preregistered, experiment (n = 237), where we further found that the use of familiarity-related fillers even improved the classic multiple-probe protocol. We recommend the use of familiarity-related filler trials for the RT-based CIT.

scholarly journals Prolonged Response Time Concealed Information Test Decreases Probe-Control Differences but Increases Classification Accuracy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gáspár Lukács
Keyword(s):  
Response Time ◽  
Classification Accuracy ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Test Length ◽  
Concealed Information Test ◽  
Key Variables ◽  
Concealed Information ◽  
Murder Weapon ◽  
Information Test

The Response Time Concealed Information Test (RT-CIT) can reveal that a person recognizes a relevant item (probe, e.g. a murder weapon) among other, irrelevant items (controls), based on slower responses to the probe compared to the controls. The present paper assesses the influence of test length (due to practice, habituation, or fatigue) on two key variables in the RT-CIT: (a) probe-control differences and (b) classification accuracy, through a meta-analysis (using 12 previous experiments), as well as with two new experiments. It is consistently demonstrated that increased test length decreases probe-control differences but increases classification accuracies. The main implication for real-life application is that using altogether at least around 600 trials is optimal for the RT-CIT.

scholarly journals Self-initiated versus instructed cheating in the physiological Concealed Information Test

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Marjoleine Geven ◽  
Nathalie klein Selle ◽  
Gershon Ben-Shakhar ◽  
Merel Kindt ◽  
Bruno Verschuere
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Bayesian Statistics ◽  
Null Hypothesis ◽  
Ecological Validity ◽  
Laboratory Studies ◽  
Concealed Information Test ◽  
Substantial Evidence ◽  
Research And Practice ◽  
Concealed Information ◽  
Information Test

The validity of the Concealed Information Test (CIT) to detect recognition of critical details has been demonstrated in hundreds of laboratory studies. These studies, however, lack the factor of deliberate intent to deceive. This disparity between research and practice may affect the generalizability of laboratory based CIT findings.In the current study, 65 out of 174 participants cheated on their own initiative in a trivia quiz. These self-initiated cheaters were compared to 68 participants who were explicitly requested to cheat. Skin conductance, heart rate, and respiration were found to detect concealed information related to cheating. No significant differences emerged between self-initiated and instructed cheaters, supported by Bayesian statistics showing substantial evidence for the null hypothesis. The data demonstrate that the validity of the CIT is not restricted to instructed deception. This finding is encouraging from an ecological validity perspective and may pave the way for further field implementation of memory detection.

scholarly journals Concealing Untrustworthiness: The Role of Conflict Monitoring in a Social Deception Task

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fee-Elisabeth Hein ◽  
Anja Leue
Keyword(s):  
Response Times ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Conflict Monitoring ◽  
Concealed Information Test ◽  
Female Age ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Deceptive Behavior ◽  
Concealed Information

Deception studies emphasize the important role of event-related potentials (ERPs) to uncover deceptive behavior based on underlying neuro-cognitive processes. The role of conflict monitoring as indicated by the frontal N2 component during truthful and deceptive responses was investigated in an adapted Concealed Information Test (CIT). Previously memorized pictures of faces should either be indicated as truthfully trustworthy, truthfully untrustworthy or trustworthy while concealing the actual untrustworthiness (untrustworthy-probe). Mean, baseline-to-peak and peak-to-peak amplitudes were calculated to examine the robustness of ERP findings across varying quantification techniques. Data of 30 participants (15 female; age: M = 23.73 years, SD = 4.09) revealed longer response times and lower correct rates for deceptive compared to truthful trustworthy responses. The frontal N2 amplitude was more negative for untrustworthy-probe and truthful untrustworthy compared to truthful trustworthy stimuli when measured as mean or baseline-to-peak amplitude. Results suggest that deception evokes conflict monitoring and ERP quantifications are differentially sensitive to a-priori hypotheses.

scholarly journals Association-based Concealed Information Test: A Novel Reaction Time-Based Deception Detection Method

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gáspár Lukács ◽  
Bartosz Gula ◽  
Emese Szegedi-Hallgató ◽  
Gábor Csifcsák
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Deception Detection ◽  
Detection Method ◽  
Concealed Information Test ◽  
Accuracy Rate ◽  
Probe Item ◽  
Subject Design ◽  
Limited Applicability ◽  
Concealed Information ◽  
Information Test

In recent years, numerous studies were published on the reaction time (RT)-based Concealed Information Test (CIT). However, an important limitation of the CIT is the reliance on the recognition of the probe item, and therefore the limited applicability when an innocent person is aware of this item. In the present paper, we introduce an RT-based CIT that is based on item-category associations: the Association-based Concealed Information Test (A-CIT). Using the participants’ given names as probe items and self-referring “inducer” items (e.g., “MINE” or “ME”) that establish an association between ownership and responses choices, in Experiment 1 (within-subject design; n = 27), this method differentiated with high accuracy between guilty and innocent conditions. Experiment 2 (n = 25) replicated Experiment 1, except that the participants were informed of the probe item in the innocent condition—nonetheless, the accuracy rate remained high. Implications and future possibilities are discussed.

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