The “Good Cop, Bad Cop” Effect in the RT-Based Concealed Information Test: Exploring the Effect of Emotional Expressions Displayed by a Virtual Investigator

Abstract

Concealing the possession of relevant information represents a complex cognitive process, shaped by contextual demands and individual differences in cognitive and socio-emotional functioning. The Reaction Time-based Concealed Information Test (RT-CIT) is used to detect concealed knowledge based on the difference in RTs between denying recognition of critical (probes) and newly encountered (irrelevant) information. Several research questions were addressed in this scenario implemented after a mock crime. First, we were interested whether the introduction of a social stimulus (facial identity) simulating a virtual investigator would facilitate the process of deception detection. Next, we explored whether his emotional displays (friendly, hostile or neutral) would have a differential impact on speed of responses to probe versus irrelevant items. We also compared the impact of introducing similar stimuli in a working memory (WM) updating context without requirements to conceal information. Finally, we explored the association between deceptive behavior and individual differences in WM updating proficiency or in internalizing problems (state / trait anxiety and depression). Results indicated that the mere presence of a neutral virtual investigator slowed down participants' responses, but not the appended lie-specific time (difference between probes and irrelevants). Emotional expression was shown to differentially affect speed of responses to critical items, with positive displays from the virtual examiner enhancing lie-specific time, compared to negative facial expressions, which had an opposite impact. This valence-specific effect was not visible in the WM updating context. Higher levels of trait / state anxiety were related to faster responses to probes in the negative condition (hostile facial expression) of the RT-CIT. These preliminary findings further emphasize the need to take into account motivational and emotional factors when considering the transfer of deception detection techniques from the laboratory to real-life settings.

Seen this scene? Scene recognition in the reaction-time Concealed Information Test

“…Previous RT-CIT experiments which have used images of objects as stimuli have shown large CIT effect sizes ranging from d = 1.05 to 1.24 (Suchotzki et al, 2015;Varga et al, 2015;and Visu-Petra et al, 2016). Given that the current study was the first reported scene-based RT-CIT, a smaller, but still relatively large, effect size was estimated 1 .…”

“…To date, RT-CIT studies have typically used word stimuli (Eom, Sohn, Park, Eum, & Sohn, 2016;Hu, Evans, Wu, Lee, & Fu, 2013;Kleinberg & Verschuere, 2016;Noordraven & Verschuere, 2013;Seymour & Kerlin, 2008;Seymour, Seifert, Shafto, & Mosmann, 2000;Seymour & Fraynt, 2009;Verschuere, Kleinberg & Theocharidou, 2015;Verschuere, Crombez, Degrootte, & Rosseel, 2010;Visu-Petra, Miclea, & Visu-Petra, 2012;Visu-Petra, Varga, Miclea, & Visu-Petra, 2013;and Visu-Petra, Miclea, Buş, & Visu-Petra, 2014), with only a handful having used images. Moreover, those that have presented images have only used pictures of discrete objects that can be easily recognized and labeled (Visu-Petra, Jurje, Ciornei, & Visu-Petra, 2016;Varga, Visu-Petra, Miclea, & Visu-Petra, 2015;Suchotzki, Verschuere, Peth, Crombez, & Gamer, 2015). For example, Visu-Petra and colleagues (2016) used images of objects (backpacks, watercolors, pencils, and erasers) to test the effectiveness of the RT-CIT in children.…”

“…In studying the effects of emotional valence, social factors and individual differences in the RT-CIT, another study presented pictures of objects (e.g., 'memory sticks', 'laptop bag', 'mobile phone', 'wireless mouse' and an 'agenda') and found that responses to crime and control items differed with a large effect size, Cohen's d = 1.05 (Varga et al, 2015). Similarly, another experiment used images of objects (e.g.…”

Evaluative Observation in a Concealed Information Test

“…Further, if a presented face in fact co-determines physiological responding in the CIT, then the specific connotation of that face for the subject becomes a central question. The impact of facial emotional expressions representing a virtual investigator on reaction times in a CIT was examined by Varga et al (20). Interestingly, the mere presence of a virtual investigator’s neutral face led to an increase in overall but not differential reaction times, whereas emotional expression in this face was found to differentially increase reaction times to probe items.…”

fMRI Correlates of Reaction Time Prolongation during intentional False Responding; an inter-individual difference study

“…Subjects with better inhibitory skills had faster absolute lie RTs but RT difference scores showed no correlation with any executive function measure. Despite the intuitive involvement of arousal and emotion mechanism in deception, behavioral experiments report mixed results about the association between deceptive RTs and measures of anxiety (Visu-Petra et al, 2012), personality (Verschuere & in ´t Hout, 2016; Visu-Petra et al, 2014) or motivation (Kleinberg & Verschuere, 2016; Varga, Visu-Petra, Miclea, & Visu-Petra, 2015).…”