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Detection of deception. The application of the guilty knowledge test within a mock crime paradigm

Goller, L.K. (2014) Detection of deception. The application of the guilty knowledge test within a mock crime paradigm.

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Abstract:The purpose of this experimental study was to find out if the Guilty Knowledge Test (GKT) could be proven as a relevant instrument for detection of deception. In order to do that, researchers applied the GKT within a mock crime paradigm. By using a 3×2×2 mixed participants` design, the focus lay on three variables: condition, time and trial type. The condition was split into the guilty, the informed innocents and the uninformed innocents. The variable time was included by splitting each of the three conditions into time delay (TD) and no time delay (NTD). The third variable, trial type, was either split into the guilty trials, which were relevant to the mock crime or the innocent trials, which were irrelevant to the mock crime. Due to loss of data in the uninformed innocent condition, the design that should have been used originally was changed into a 2×2×2 mixed participants `design. Results that are disclosed in this article are based on that new design. The experiment was conducted within two stages. Participants from the NTD-conditions had to take part in both stages within one whole session. TD-participants took part in the first stage of the experiment and were instructed to return to the testing environment for stage two five days later. Researchers wanted to investigate, whether the participant`s Skin Conductance Response (SCR)-specifically the quantity of SCRs- was influenced by being assigned randomly to one of the six conditions. Results indicated no significant effect for condition or time in respect to SCR- quantity. However, researchers found a significant effect for trial type (innocent vs. guilty trials). In addition, a significant interaction effect was discovered: In the informed innocent condition participants showed lower SCR-quantities within the TD-condition on innocent trials. Based on these results, researchers are fairly confident about the GKT and its future implementation within a judicial setting. Of course, there were no main effects for the factors that were tested, but the items used on the GKT in this present study were generated diligently enough, in order to find a difference between guilty and innocent trials. This difference conveniently identifies the state of the art GKT as a possible instrument to detect discrepancies in the suspects’ behavior towards crime relevant and crime irrelevant items.
Item Type:Essay (Bachelor)
Faculty:BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences
Subject:77 psychology
Programme:Psychology BSc (56604)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/64783
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