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Cognitive Load and Deception Detection Performance
Adrianna Wielgopolan1, Kamil K Imbir1
1The Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw.
Abstract:
The ability to detect deception is one of the most intriguing features of our minds. Cognitive load can surprisingly increase the accuracy of detection when there is a substantial load compared to when the detection is performed without cognitive load. This effect was tested in two experiments. In the first experiment, the participants were asked to watch truth/lie videos while completing a concurrent task (N-back in a 3-back version; intuitive processing), providing verbal reasoning after watching each video (deliberative processing), or watching the videos alone (control group). The cognitive load caused by the concurrent task led to a higher accuracy in deception detection compared to the other conditions. In the second experiment, we examined how this effect worked under various amounts of cognitive load. Participants watching truth/lie videos were assigned to one of three experimental conditions (N-back in three versions: 1, 3, and 5-back) or to a control group. The participants in the 3-back and 5-back conditions exhibited a significantly higher accuracy in deception detection than those in the 1-back and control groups. Thus, the effect of increased accuracy in deception detection is due to cognitive load and is related to the amount of cognitive load present.
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