Detection of concealed information: combining a virtual mock crime with a P300-based Guilty Knowledge Test

Cyberpsychol Behav. 2009 Jun;12(3):269-75. doi: 10.1089/cpb.2008.0309.

Abstract

The present study examined the detection of concealed information by combining a virtual mock crime with a P300-based Guilty Knowledge Test (GKT). Thirty-eight male participants were assigned to one of two groups: a guilty group that committed a mock crime to conceal a lost roll of bills in a computer simulation of a virtual library and an innocent group that was free from concealed information. Remarkably, the guilty group reacted with stronger P300 peak amplitudes to crime-relevant than to irrelevant stimuli, whereas the innocent group had similar P300 responses between crime-relevant and irrelevant stimuli. Deception-related cognitive activity based on P300 was revealed as a valid marker to differentiate between guilty and innocent. This is a highly empirical study combining a virtual mock crime with a P300-based GKT to detect deception. These results may be applied to a variety of areas dealing with not only forensic investigation but also health and medical research concerning deception as a symptom.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Awareness / physiology*
  • Cerebral Cortex / physiology
  • Computer Simulation
  • Deception*
  • Electroencephalography
  • Event-Related Potentials, P300 / physiology*
  • Fourier Analysis
  • Guilt*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted
  • Theft / psychology*
  • User-Computer Interface*
  • Young Adult