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In the pursuit of new methods for concealed memory detection, event-related potential components (ERP) have been placed at the forefront of research. No method, however, is scientifically complete without a theory and the present study therefore aimed to unravel the cognitive processes underlying these ERPs (i.e., orienting and arousal inhibition). This was accomplished by using a Concealed Information Test (CIT) in which participants were once motivated to conceal and once motivated to reveal their identity. The results showed a similarly strong P3 CIT effect in the two motivational conditions, which was enhanced for high salience compared to low salience identity items. Similar results were observed when using a multivariate machine-learning algorithm - suggesting that brain-based concealed memory detection is driven mainly by orientation to salient stimuli, rather than by arousal inhibition. In addition, the algorithm, trained and tested on the ERPs of different identity items, achieved detection rates exceeding those achieved by the P3. This implies that CIT researchers and practitioners could potentially rely on the entire ERP waveform instead of a-priori selecting separate components. Together these results enrich current understanding of the mechanisms underlying neurophysiological responding to concealed information and pave the way for novel and powerful algorithms which could be used in real-life forensic investigations.

The Concealed Information Test (CIT) utilizes psychophysiological measures to detect crime-related knowledge in a suspect's memory. In other words, it can discriminate between knowledgeable (guilty) and unknowledgeable (innocent) suspects. The majority of CIT research is however conducted in controlled laboratory settings, which are more resistant to external influences than realistic forensic settings. Such influences include retroactive memory interferences which may threaten the validity of the CIT. One notable example is the misinformation effect - retroactive memory distortions caused by exposure to misleading information regarding a past event. The current study is a constructive replication of Volz et al. (J Forensic Sci 2017;63:1419) examining the effects of misleading information on the CIT. Participants underwent a three-stage experiment including a mock crime, exposure to misleading information, and a CIT. Results show that when misleading information was presented, explicit memory of the mock crime was reduced, but the physiological responses to the critical CIT items were only partially attenuated. This could suggest that the detection of crime-relevant information, using skin conductance and respiration measures, might be possible even when suspects are exposed to misleading information.

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.

The process of information concealment is more relevant than ever in this day and age. Using a modified concealed-information test (CIT), we aimed to unmask this process by investigating both the decision and the attempt to conceal information in 38 students. The attempt to conceal (vs. reveal) information induced a differential physiological response pattern within subjects—whereas skin conductance increased in both conditions, respiration and heart rate were suppressed only in the conceal condition—confirming the idea that these measures reflect different underlying mechanisms. The decision to conceal (vs. reveal) information induced enhanced anticipatory skin conductance responses. To our knowledge, this is the first study that observed such anticipatory responses in an information-concealment paradigm. Together, these findings imply that our physiological responses reflect, to some degree, both the decision and the attempt to conceal information. In addition to strengthening CIT theory, this knowledge sheds novel light on anticipatory responding in decision making.

The Concealed Information Test (CIT) provides a valid tool for psychophysiological detection of concealed knowledge. However, its precise theoretical underpinnings remain a matter of debate. The differential physiological responses elicited by concealed, relevant items, relative to control items, were traditionally explained as reflecting an orienting response (OR). According to an alternative account, these responses reflect attempts to inhibit arousal. The present study examined whether and to what extent CIT detection efficiency is affected by instructions aimed at manipulating arousal inhibition (AI). One hundred and forty-eight undergraduate students completed a CIT, while electrodermal, cardiac, and respiratory measures were recorded. Half of the participants were requested to imagine that they are suspected of committing a crime and were motivated to avoid detection (presumably eliciting both OR and AI), while the other half were requested to imagine that they are witnesses of a crime and were motivated to be detected (presumably eliciting OR only). All participants were further requested to remain silent throughout the test. In both conditions, concealed items led to a similar increase in skin conductance as compared to the control items. However, the typically observed heart rate deceleration and respiratory suppression were found in suspects, but not in witnesses. These data imply that different mechanisms drive the responding of different psychophysiological measures used in the CIT, with skin conductance reflecting OR, and heart rate and respiration primarily reflecting AI.

The Concealed Information Test (CIT) is a well-validated tool for physiological and behavioral detection of concealed knowledge. Two distinct theoretical frameworks have been proposed to explain the differential responses to the concealed critical items: orienting response theory versus arousal inhibition theory. klein Selle, Verschuere, Kindt, Meijer, and Ben-Shakhar (2016), however, argued for a response fractionation model and showed that, while the skin conductance reflects pure orienting, both the respiratory and heart rate measures reflect arousal inhibition. The present study intends to (1) provide a constructive replication of klein Selle et al. (2016) using the autobiographical CIT, and (2) extend their work by testing an additional prediction derived from orienting theory, using an item-salience manipulation. One hundred and nine participants were tested on four high salient and four low salient identity items. Half of the participants were motivated to hide their identity (orienting + arousal inhibition), while the other half were motivated to reveal their identity (orienting only). Confirming earlier findings, the results revealed a fractionation between the different measures: while the skin conductance response (SCR) increased to a similar extent in the two motivational conditions, the respiration line length (RLL) shortened and the heart rate (HR) decelerated solely in the conceal condition. Moreover, while the SCR was larger for high than for low salient critical items, the RLL and HR responses were similar for these two item types. These data led us to conclude that, in the CIT, the skin conductance measure reflects orienting and the respiratory and heart rate measures reflect arousal inhibition.

The Concealed Information Test (CIT) provides a valid tool for psychophysiological detection of concealed knowledge. However, its precise theoretical underpinnings remain a matter of debate. The differential physiological responses elicited by concealed, relevant items, relative to control items, were traditionally explained as reflecting an orienting response (OR). According to an alternative account, these responses reflect attempts to inhibit arousal. The present study examined whether and to what extent CIT detection efficiency is affected by instructions aimed at manipulating arousal inhibition (AI). One hundred and forty-eight undergraduate students completed a CIT, while electrodermal, cardiac, and respiratory measures were recorded. Half of the participants were requested to imagine that they are suspected of committing a crime and were motivated to avoid detection (presumably eliciting both OR and AI), while the other half were requested to imagine that they are witnesses of a crime and were motivated to be detected (presumably eliciting OR only). All participants were further requested to remain silent throughout the test. In both conditions, concealed items led to a similar increase in skin conductance as compared to the control items. However, the typically observed heart rate deceleration and respiratory suppression were found in suspects, but not in witnesses. These data imply that different mechanisms drive the responding of different psychophysiological measures used in the CIT, with skin conductance reflecting OR, and heart rate and respiration primarily reflecting AI.

The Concealed Information Test (CIT) uses psychophysiological measures to determine the presence or absence of crime-related information in a suspect's memory. We conducted a meta-analysis on the validity of the CIT based on four physiological measures-skin conductance response (SCR), respiration line length (RLL), changes in heart rate (HR), and enhanced amplitudes of the P300 component of the event-related potential (P300). This meta-analysis relied on laboratory studies that used either the mock-crime or the personal-item paradigm. Results showed a mean effect size (d*) of 1.55 for SCR, 1.11 for RLL, 0.89 for HR, and 1.89 for P300. However, P300 outperformed SCR only in the personal-item paradigm, but not in the mock-crime paradigm. Motivation level, number of questions, publication year, and the inclusion of innocent participants emerged as significant moderators for the SCR, while only the type of paradigm used moderated the P300 effect.

The self-concept maintenance theory holds that many people will cheat in order to maximize self-profit, but only to the extent that they can do so while maintaining a positive self-concept. Mazar, Amir, and Ariely (2008, Experiment 1) gave participants an opportunity and incentive to cheat on a problem-solving task. Prior to that task, participants either recalled the Ten Commandments (a moral reminder) or recalled 10 books they had read in high school (a neutral task). Results were consistent with the self-concept maintenance theory. When given the opportunity to cheat, participants given the moral-reminder priming task reported solving 1.45 fewer matrices than did those given a neutral prime (Cohen’s d = 0.48); moral reminders reduced cheating. Mazar et al.’s article is among the most cited in deception research, but their Experiment 1 has not been replicated directly. This Registered Replication Report describes the aggregated result of 25 direct replications (total N = 5,786), all of which followed the same preregistered protocol. In the primary meta-analysis (19 replications, total n = 4,674), participants who were given an opportunity to cheat reported solving 0.11 more matrices if they were given a moral reminder than if they were given a neutral reminder (95% confidence interval = [−0.09, 0.31]). This small effect was numerically in the opposite direction of the effect observed in the original study (Cohen’s d = −0.04).