Effects of coping and cooperative instructions on guilty and informed innocents' physiological responses to concealed information

Liza Zvi, Israel Nachson, Eitan Elaad

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Scopus citations

Abstract

Previous research on the Concealed Information Test indicates that knowledge of the critical information of a given event is sufficient for the elicitation of strong physiological reactions, thus facilitating detection by the test. Other factors that affect the test's efficacy are deceptive verbal responses to the test's questions and motivation of guilty examinees to avoid detection. In the present study effects of coping and cooperative instructions - delivered to guilty and innocent participants - on detection were examined. In a mock-theft experiment guilty participants who actually committed a mock-crime, and informed innocent participants who handled the critical items of the crime in an innocent context, were instructed to adopt either a coping or a cooperative attitude toward the polygraph test. Results indicated that both, guilt and coping behavior, were associated with enhanced physiological responses to the critical information, whereas innocence and cooperative behavior attenuated physiological responses. Theoretical and applied implications of the results are discussed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)140-148
Number of pages9
JournalInternational Journal of Psychophysiology
Volume84
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2012

Keywords

  • Concealed Information Test
  • Detection of deception
  • Finger pulse
  • Polygraph
  • Respiration
  • Skin conductance response

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Effects of coping and cooperative instructions on guilty and informed innocents' physiological responses to concealed information'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this