Differentiation of deception using pupillary responses as an index of cognitive processing

Abstract

The deception literature has predominantly focused on detection of guilty individuals using electrodermal measures. Little research has examined other psychophysiological measures or the mechanisms underlying deception. Therefore, the present study examined pupillary responses in a differentiation-of-deception paradigm. Twenty-four undergraduate participants answered the same questions twice, once truthfully and once deceptively, while pupillary responses were recorded. Questions were based on recently learned (episodic) information from scenarios or on general (semantic) knowledge from long-term memory. Task-evoked pupil dilation was significantly greater when participants confabulated responses than when they told the truth for both episodic and semantic memory questions. Previous research has demonstrated that pupil size increases with increased cognitive processing load. The present study suggested that generating deceptive recall was associated with increased pupil size and required greater cognitive processing than truthful recall.

Potential noncontact tools for rapid credibility assessment from physiological and behavioral cues

“…Cognitive processes as well as emotional arousal result in pupil dilations and the cognitive processes involved in deception are found to impact pupillary response. Dionisio, Granholm, Hillix and Perrine [10] report that deceptive responses to a recall task reliably produced larger pupil responses than truthful answers. The pattern of access into long-term memory during deception has been associated with differences in pupil dilation [11,12] as well.…”

Effects of Different Multimedia Presentations on Viewers’ Information-Processing Activities Measured by Eye-Tracking Technology

“…Finally, the size of the viewer's pupils has long been used to identify cognitive load when an individual is accomplishing various tasks. Pupil dilation increases when the task being performed is cognitively demanding (Dionisio et al 2001;Just and Carpenter 1993).…”

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“…5 Daphne P. Dionisio and her colleagues also reported that deceptive responses to a recall task reliably produced larger pupil responses than truthful answers. 6 To capture these types of responses, we integrated a Fujifi lm FinePix IS-1 sensor into our network with infrared capabilities concentrated on the participant's eyes using external infrared light sources to magnify and detect pupil changes from a distance.…”