Effects of attention, as indexed by subsequent memory, on electrodermal detection of information.

Abstract

Three closely related experiments tested the effects of attention, as indexed by subsequent memory, on electrodermal detection of information. A total of 62 male college students attempted to conceal six critical items of information from a polygraph examiner recording their electrodermal response (EDR). In the polygraph test the subject was asked if any of a list of 24 words, one every 10-15 sec, were critical items he was concealing. The list was comprised of three semantically similar control words along with each critical word. Afterward, without forewarning, a second experimenter asked the subject to remember all the words he had been asked about on the test. Deceptive subjects who gave a larger EDR to critical than to control words more often than could be expected by chance (i.e.. were correctly detected as deceptive) remembered more control words than did other deceptive subjects who escaped detection. The results are interpreted to mean that the less thoroughly a subject processes the test words, as indexed by later memory, the less likely he is to be detected.

Time and Encoding Effects in the Concealed Knowledge Test

“…Less elaborated items were accurately detected after 10 min, but by 1 week test accuracy was significantly compromised. In previous CKT studies, test accuracy was affected by test delay in some cases (Rosenfeld et al 1991 ; Waid et al 1978 , 1981 a), but not in others (Carmel et al 2003 ). The present data suggest that this discrepancy may have been driven by differences in probe elaboration.…”

“…Previous studies have demonstrated that the amount of attention paid to a particular crime item is positively correlated with both the level of physiological response to that item during a lie test, as well as to the item’s later explicit recall by the participant. In these studies, level of attention was not manipulated, but inferred by the level of physiological response to each stimulus during study (e.g., Waid et al 1978 , 1981 a). This correlation between attention and detectability appears to predict that using peripheral items in the CKT will lead to poorer detection efficiency than more central items.…”

Current Research and Potential Applications of the Concealed Information Test: An Overview

“…Research demonstrating positive correlations between OR and later recall of the stimulus material supports this view (e.g., Corteen, 1969 ). Indeed, several CIT studies found a positive association between recall and detection efficiency (e.g., Waid et al, 1978 , 1981b ; Iacono et al, 1984 ; Carmel et al, 2003 ; Verschuere et al, 2007 ).…”

Temperature effects on polygraph detection of concealed information

“…Disrupted attention would have attenuated responding to relevant items among the guilty, thereby degrading test performance. Although attention could not be measured directly, it was inferred from subsequent memory for test items in a paradigm similar to that performed by Waid et al (1978). Neither the recall test nor the recognition test showed a difference in terms of testing temperature.…”

“…Temperature effects on cognition were a potential confound during testing. With the CIT questioning method, classification accuracy will be lower for guilty persons who pay less attention during the polygraph examination (Waid, Orne, Cook, & Orne, 1978). This finding is important, as both high and low ambient temperatures can impair an individual's attention (M€ akinen, 2007;Pilcher, Nadler, & Busch, 2002).…”