The Current Study

3.1.3 (a) Deception Detection Accuracy Using Observer Ratings and Reality Monitoring

While Logue et al. (2015) demonstrated that the combination of Reality Monitoring and the CIS may be used to accurately detect deception, it is important to

71 determine whether the CIS alone is sufficient for accurate deception detection. Although meta-analyses of the separate literatures have indicated that Reality Monitoring has an overall accuracy rating that is higher than subjective ratings, studies that directly compare Reality Monitoring to observer ratings of the same interviews are relatively scarce. Further, Geiselmann (2012) indicated that subjective ratings of deception at the

conclusion of the CIS led to “an almost perfect level of discriminability” (Geiselmann & Fisher, 2014, p.14). While actuarial judgments have been demonstrated to improve deception detection accuracy in a variety of settings, it is conceivable that the additive effects of the cognitive load throughout the CIS may make truth and deception easier to determine subjectively, by merely watching the interviews. The present study attempts to determine whether the CIS alone is able to elicit accurate, subjective judgements, or if Reality Monitoring is required for accurate deception detection. Participants watched videos of CIS interviews that were conducted after the mock theft scenario outlined in Logue et al. (2015). The observer ratings of honesty and deception were compared to Reality Monitoring scales to determine whether it is the specific combination of Reality Monitoring and the CIS that leads to accurate deception detection. Due to the superiority of actuarial methods over subjective judgments in many contexts (Garb, 1989), we expected that Reality Monitoring scores would more accurately predict deception than subjective judgments after watching interrogation videos.

3.1.3 (b) Validating the Cognitive Interview for Suspects as an Information Gathering Approach

Logue et al. (2015) considered the Reality Monitoring scores of the final, post interview questions. In the discussion of this study, the authors hypothesized that true

72 and false statements may show differential patterns of information throughout the

interview that may lead to increased deception detection. Specifically, the interventions of the CIS should increase memory in true statements which would lead to more visual, auditory, spatial, temporal, and affective details at the conclusion of the interview. Conversely, fabricated accounts would not demonstrate this effect and the cognitive load induced by the CIS may actually reduce the information gathered. The present study reanalyzes the data set from Logue et al. (2015) to directly test whether truthful and deceptive accounts differ in the amount of Reality Monitoring criteria mentioned

throughout the interview. An additional goal of this study was to directly test if using the pattern of information provided during the interviews is an effective method of detecting deception. Reality Monitoring criteria have been demonstrated to be more prevalent in truthful accounts prior to any information gathering interventions (Masip et al., 2005). The CIS has been hypothesized to preferentially increase the amount of information provided in truthful statements. Therefore, Reality Monitoring scores will be calculated using both the baseline interview response and the pattern of information provided throughout the interview. The specific hypotheses of this paper are:

1.) Reality Monitoring will be a significantly more accurate deception detection method than observer ratings.

2.) Truthful accounts will demonstrate a significantly higher increase in Reality

Monitoring criteria from initial to final CIS question responses than deceptive accounts.

3.) Using initial Reality Monitoring scores and the difference scores of the first and last question of the CIS will be an accurate method of detecting deception.

73 3.2 Method

3.2.1 Participants

Interviews: Participants in the mock theft scenario and interviews were 166 Brock University students (67 men, 99 women, M = 21.3 age range 17-43). These individuals completed the study for course credit and the possibility of winning $10.

Observer raters: Participants in this study were 390 Brock University students (97 men, 293 women, age: M = 21.3, SD = 1.21). Participants received course credit for completion of this study.

3.2. 2 Procedure

3.2.2 (a) Stage I

Interrogation Videos: The videos that participants viewed were segments from the CIS as completed in Logue et al. (2015). In this study participants were interviewed after experiencing a game manipulation adapted from Vrij, Leal, Mann & Fisher (2010). Participants in the truthful condition of this study completed a game scenario during which they were left alone in a room with a wallet. Eventually, the participant was confronted by a confederate who claimed that money was missing out of the wallet. Conversely, participants in the deceptive condition were provided a transcript of the game protocol and directed to take the money out of the wallet. They were directed to use the template provided to come up with a convincing lie and given equivalent time to practice it. Participants in both conditions were informed that they would win/keep the money if they were able to convince the interviewer that they did not take the money.

74 Participants in both groups were interviewed using the CIS. The videos that the participants in this study observed depicted the interviewee sitting in a chair, facing the camera, which was clearly in sight. The video was shot from a “first person perspective” over the right shoulder of the interviewer, so that the interviewer was not in the frame. The camera was approximately 5 feet away from the interviewee and was adjusted to each participant’s height to provide a clear view of the interviewee’s face, arms, and body below the knee.

One hundred videos were selected from 157 interviews that were obtained in previous research. These 100 videos were selected based on length of answers, so that participants could watch 10 different interviewee’s answer two questions during the allotted time frame. The selection pool was limited to answers that were a maximum of 3 minutes including the initial question asked by the interviewer. Videos of the first question were between 1:04 and 2:48 minutes. Videos of the second question ranged between 1:21 and 2:57 minutes. Only 38 of the original 77 truthful answers were less than 3 minutes, and therefore only these videos were used in this sample. The 62 deceptive answers were randomly selected out of the original pool of deceptive answers that fit the time restrictions to be used in this study.

3.2.2 (b) Stage II

Participants were informed that this study involved how people make social judgments. Study sessions were run with groups of one to eight people. Participants selected their own timeslots on a university website. Each participant viewed the answers to the first and last question asked during the interview, so that they viewed an

75 interviewee answer 2 questions, for a total of 20 videos watched. The order of video targets was counterbalanced to eliminate practice effects. Approximately 40 participants viewed each set of video targets (in groups of 10 targets). Thus, each participant viewed and rated 20 videos (10 first question videos, and 10 last question videos). Accuracy was defined as the number of targets correctly classified by each participant, separately for the first and last question videos.

The first question that each interviewee responded to was:

“Please tell me in as much detail as possible, what happened when you were in the room with [Researcher 1] just now. Please mention all details, all conversations that took place, and give as much information as possible, including everyone whom entered the room, however irrelevant it may seem. Please tell me as much as you possibly can, as I will use all the information to decide whether or not I think you are telling the truth.”

This question served as the initial recall of the event, prior to the CIS.

The second question each interviewee responded to was:

“Please tell me in as much detail as possible, what happened when you were in the room with [Researcher 1] just now. Please mention all details, all conversations that took place, and give as much information as possible, including everyone whom entered the room, however irrelevant it may seem. Please tell me as much as you possibly can, as I will use all the information to decide whether or not I think you are telling the truth. It is very important that you tell me all of the information you have told me throughout the interview, even if you have mentioned it in previous questions, as well as anything else

76 you may like to add. This will be your last chance to convince me you are telling the truth.”

This question was the last question in the CIS protocol, which was asked after all of the CIS steps were completed. The interviewer was not allowed to direct, challenge, or ask any further questions of the interviewee. The videos were the full and complete uninterrupted statements of the interviewee. All parties watched the videos on a large projection screen. At the conclusion of each clip, participants were asked to make judgements on the truthfulness of each answer. Participants rated each video both after the initial control question, and on the final question of each interview. Participants were separated and judged truthfulness individually. A researcher remained in the study room to ensure independent answers.