Detecting concealed information from groups using a dynamic questioning approach: simultaneous skin conductance
Ewout H Meijer1, Gary Bente, Gershon Ben-Shakhar
1Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University Maastricht, Netherlands ; Department of Psychology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Jerusalem, Israel.
Frontiers in Psychology
|February 21, 2013
Summary
This study introduces a dynamic questioning approach to detect concealed information within groups planning mock terrorist attacks. The method successfully identified attack plans in most groups by analyzing collective physiological responses.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Forensic Science
- Security Studies
Background:
- Traditional lie detection focuses on individual suspects.
- Modern security threats often involve organized groups.
- Existing methods struggle to detect group-level concealed information.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate a dynamic questioning approach for extracting concealed attack plans from groups.
- To assess the efficacy of physiological measures in detecting group-level deception.
Main Methods:
- 100 participants were organized into 20 groups of 5.
- Groups planned a mock terrorist attack.
- A dynamic questioning approach monitored group skin conductance during questioning.
- Physiological responses exceeding a threshold triggered follow-up questions.
Main Results:
- The country of the mock attack was correctly identified in 19 out of 20 groups.
- The city was detected in 13 of the 19 groups, and the street in 7 of those 13.
- False positives were low, with minimal impact on overall accuracy.
Conclusions:
- The dynamic questioning approach shows promise for uncovering group-based concealed information.
- This method could be valuable for counter-terrorism and organized crime investigations.
- Further research with larger effect sizes is warranted.
