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The time of the crime: Cognitively induced tonic arousal suppression when lying in a free recall context

Leal, Sharon, Vrij, Aldert, Fisher, Ronald P., Van Hooff, Hannie (2008) The time of the crime: Cognitively induced tonic arousal suppression when lying in a free recall context. Acta Psychologica, 129 (1). pp. 1-7. ISSN 0001-6918. (doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2008.03.015) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:15764)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.
Official URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2008.03.015

Abstract

Previous research has shown that suspects in real-life interviews do not display stereotypical signs of nervous behaviours, even though they may be experiencing high detection anxiety. We hypothesised that these suspects may have experienced cognitive load when lying and that this cognitive load reduced their tonic arousal, which suppressed signs of nervousness. We conducted two experiments to test this hypothesis. Tonic electrodermal arousal and blink rate were examined during task-induced (Experiment 1) and deception-induced cognitive load (Experiment 2). Both increased cognitive difficulty and deception resulted in decreased tonic arousal and blinking. This demonstrated for the first time that when lying results in heightened levels of cognitive load, signs of nervousness are decreased. We discuss implications for detecting deception and more wide-ranging phenomena related to emotional behaviour.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2008.03.015
Uncontrolled keywords: tonic arousal; cognitive load; deception
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Psychology
Depositing User: Jane Griffiths
Date Deposited: 21 Apr 2009 13:55 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 09:53 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/15764 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Van Hooff, Hannie.

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