反测谎行为研究

在测谎技术不断成熟的今天,其另一方面——反测谎也随着测谎技术的发展而发展,并且有被受测者普遍使用之势。反测谎的出现,极大地影响着测谎结论的准确性和有效性。认识反测谎,是对抗反测谎、提高测谎准确性的重要前提。应该依据测谎技术的发生原理及其学科基础,并结合测谎技术的使用过程,运用生理学、心理学、生理心理学及药理学等知识,对反测谎的依据、伎俩手段等进行研究探讨,同时认为反测谎在一定程度上是可以识别和对抗的。反测谎行为研究,符合科技战之研究主题。     

认知脑电测谎中汉字和图片刺激材料的研究

认知脑电测谎一般采用案件图片刺激或者是具有特定意义的字词句来研究。对汉字和图片的ERP相关研究发现了二者都存在新旧效应,但也发现了二者诱发的特异性ERPs成分在潜伏期、波幅、频率等上不同,存在＂图片优势效应＂。这可能是由于大脑对两种性质不同的刺激材料的认知加工过程差异造成的。本文通过对二种刺激材料的差异研究探讨了在民事和刑事案件中面对不同情况下选择何种刺激材料才能更好地引发目标刺激的反应,有效地提取、识别出特异性目标脑电特征,从而提高检测被测人大脑中是否具有案件相关信息的准确率。     

Proficiency Testing as a Basis for Estimating Uncertainty of Measurement: Application to Forensic Alcohol and Toxicology Quantitations

Abstract: While forensic laboratories will soon be required to estimate uncertainties of measurement for those quantitations reported to the end users of the information, the procedures for estimating this have been little discussed in the forensic literature. This article illustrates how proficiency test results provide the basis for estimating uncertainties in three instances: (i) For breath alcohol analyzers the interlaboratory precision is taken as a direct measure of uncertainty. This approach applies when the number of proficiency tests is small. (ii) For blood alcohol, the uncertainty is calculated from the differences between the laboratory’s proficiency testing results and the mean quantitations determined by the participants; this approach applies when the laboratory has participated in a large number of tests. (iii) For toxicology, either of these approaches is useful for estimating comparability between laboratories, but not for estimating absolute accuracy. It is seen that data from proficiency tests enable estimates of uncertainty that are empirical, simple, thorough, and applicable to a wide range of concentrations.     

‘Language of lies’: Urgent issues and prospects in verbal lie detection research

Since its introduction into the field of deception detection, the verbal channel has become a rapidly growing area of research. The basic assumption is that liars differ from truth tellers in their verbal behaviour, making it possible to classify them by inspecting their verbal accounts. However, as noted in conferences and in private communication between researchers, the field of verbal lie detection faces several challenges that merit focused attention. The first author therefore proposed a workshop with the mission of promoting solutions for urgent issues in the field. Nine researchers and three practitioners with experience in credibility assessments gathered for 3 days of discussion at Bar-Ilan University (Israel) in the first international verbal lie detection workshop. The primary session of the workshop took place the morning of the first day. In this session, each of the participants had up to 10 min to deliver a brief message, using just one slide. Researchers were asked to answer the question: ‘In your view, what is the most urgent, unsolved question/issue in verbal lie detection?’ Similarly, practitioners were asked: ‘As a practitioner, what question/issue do you wish verbal lie detection research would address?’ The issues raised served as the basis for the discussions that were held throughout the workshop. The current paper first presents the urgent, unsolved issues raised by the workshop group members in the main session, followed by a message to researchers in the field, designed to deliver the insights, decisions, and conclusions resulting from the discussions.     

Temperature fluctuations at sympathetic preganglionic neuron sites in the thoracolumbar section of the spinal column as cues to deception: a preliminary study

In this experiment, both thermal imaging and the Concealed Information Test (CIT) methodologies were adopted, for the first time, to explore the efficacy of the thermal imaging of the thoracolumbar (T1–L3) region of the spinal column within the context of deception detection. Thirty-one participants followed a CIT-based structured interview process in a low-stakes laboratory setting whereby temperature fluctuations induced by the preganglionic neurons in the spinal column were measured with a thermal imaging camera during verbal responses to interview questions. The degree of temperature changes was then analyzed in order to determine truthfulness and deceit. Thermal imaging of the thoracolumbar region of the spinal column during sympathetic activation was effective in determining truthful responses with an accuracy rate of 91.9% and deceitful responses with an accuracy rate of 71.0%. Current findings support the potential use of temperature fluctuations of preganglionic neuron sites in the thoracolumbar section for lie-detection purposes.     

Validation of neuropsychological consequences in victims of intimate partner violence in a Spanish population using specific effort tests

Neuropsychological consequences in female survivors of intimate partner violence are being used in courts as evidence of acquired injury and for criminal exculpation. To support the validity of neuropsychological test performance and the veracity of victim testimony, effort tests can be used by expert witnesses. Nevertheless, no study has evaluated whether the two principle types of effort tests, Symptom validity tests or Performance validity tests, are most adequate for this population. The study’s objective was to compare the false positive rates of a Performance validity test (Test of Memory Malingering: TOMM) and a Symptom validity test (Structured Inventory of Malingered Symptomatology: SIMS). The sample included 68 female intimate partner violence victims and 40 control females. SIMS showed a significantly higher rate of false positives in victims on four of five subtests, reaching a 59.3% in the total score. There were 0% false positives in both groups on the TOMM. Findings indicate that the SIMS may incorrectly score female IPV victims, undermining the victim’s testimony in judicial cases.     

A re‐analysis that supports our main results: A reply to Levine et al.

Levine et al. (2018) criticized our meta‐analysis, but their conclusion was the same as ours: The cognitive approach to lie detection results in a modest improvement. We address and dismiss Levine et al.'s (2018) three criticisms. Regarding the ‘confound’, in our meta‐analysis we averaged the results of two cells on statistical grounds, which does not constitute a confound in statistical terms. Regarding ‘aberrant controls’, that depends entirely on the benchmarks selected and type of statistical test and meta‐analysis used. Regarding ‘unreliable data’, the claim that there is a positive relationship between ‘unreliable’ data and total accuracy in the cognitive lie detection conditions is not even supported by their own data (p = .16). We conclude with a request to Levine et al. to focus on our shared aim: to develop interview protocols that enable lie detection.     

When the long road is the shortcut: a comparison between two coding methods for content-based lie-detection tools

When using a content-based lie detection tool, a decision regarding veracity is made by evaluating the presence of specific content criteria within the interviewee’s account. This evaluation can be achieved either by counting the frequency of occurrence of the criteria (frequency counts; FC) or by using a scale to rate the intensity at which they appear in the entire text (scale rates; SR). In the current study, we compared these two coding methods with respect to their accuracy in determining veracity, and their intercoder and test–retest reliabilities. Fourteen coders coded the presence of perceptual and contextual details in true and false statements, each used the FC method for one set of 30 statements and the SR method for another set of 30 statements. One month later, eight of the coders recoded 28 statements. Results showed a significant advantage for the FC method over the SR method. While the coders perceived the SR method as less time-consuming than the FC method, accuracy level as well as intercoder and test–retest reliabilities were higher for the FC than for the SR method. These findings suggest that when using a content-based lie detection tool, FC coding should be preferred over SR coding.     

测谎的发展历程及法医学应用前景

测谎技术越来越多地运用于协助侦查破案,成为打击和预防犯罪的重要手段之一。本文简述了它在古代的最初尝试以及近代心理-生理参数指标在测谎技术中的应用。尤其是现代多道生理记录仪的出现,使心理-生理参数指标更趋完善。随着人们对认知领域的深入探索,事件相关电位、脑功能核磁成像技术和事件相关-脑功能核磁成像技术在测谎领域的应用,使现代测谎技术的重心转移到对大脑活动的侦测方面,检测结果更为客观,更接近说谎的源头。本文介绍了从简单到复杂不同的测谎形式和各自的原理及目前发展最新动态,并分析了它在法医学应用的前景。