Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-5cf477f64f-bmd9x Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-04-07T12:23:48.721Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

16 - Practical guidelines for developing a CIT

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

By
Ewout Meijer ,
Bruno Verschuere  and
Gershon Ben-Shakhar
Edited by
Bruno Verschuere ,
Gershon Ben-Shakhar  and
Ewout Meijer
Ewout Meijer
Affiliation:
Maastricht University
Bruno Verschuere
Affiliation:
University of Amsterdam
Gershon Ben-Shakhar
Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Bruno Verschuere
Affiliation:
Universiteit van Amsterdam
Gershon Ben-Shakhar
Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Ewout Meijer
Affiliation:
Universiteit Maastricht, Netherlands
Get access

Summary

Overview: In this chapter, we will formulate guidelines on how to develop a good CIT. These guidelines are based upon empirical data from CIT research as well as on theory on memory and orienting. We will outline how best to formulate questions and answer alternatives, how to conduct, score, and report the outcomes of the test. If these guidelines are followed, we are confident that the CIT can make an important contribution to police investigations.

The present book reviewed and summarized a large database of research on the Concealed Information Test (CIT), and a compelling case for its widespread adoption by law enforcement agencies was made (see Chapter 1). Clearly, designing adequate test questions is crucial for successful implementation and, as outlined in Chapter 8, good CIT questions need to fulfil two criteria. First, they need to refer to crime-relevant details that are present in the perpetrator's memory. Second, this information does not need to be known to an innocent suspect. The latter criterion primarily poses practical challenges to the police investigation process. Details of the crime should, for example, not be released through the media, nor be disclosed to a suspect in any interrogation preceding a CIT. The former criterion – what information is present in a suspect's memory – on the other hand, is not under the control of the investigative authorities. In this chapter, we will formulate guidelines on how to develop a good CIT, thereby maximizing detection efficiency and ensuring proper reporting.

Type
Chapter
Information
Memory Detection
Theory and Application of the Concealed Information Test
 , pp. 293 - 302
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ben-Shakhar, G. (1985). Standardization within individuals: a simple method to neutralize individual differences in skin conductance. Psychophysiology, 22, 292–299.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ben-Shakhar, G., and Elaad, E. (2002). Effects of questions' repetition and variation on the efficiency of the guilty knowledge test: a reexamination. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 972–977.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ben-Shakhar, G., and Elaad, E. (2003). The validity of psychophysiological detection of information with the Guilty Knowledge Test: a meta-analytic review. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 131–151.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ben-Shakhar, G., Frost, R., Gati, I., and Kresh, Y. (1996). Is an apple a fruit? Semantic relatedness as reflected by psychophysiological responsivity. Psychophysiology, 33, 671–679.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carmel, D., Dayan, E., Naveh, A., Raveh, O., and Ben-Shakhar, G. (2003). Estimating the validity of the guilty knowledge test from simulated experiments: the external validity of mock crime studies. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 9, 261–269.Google ScholarPubMed
Christianson, S. A. (1992). Emotional stress and eyewitness memory: a critical review. Psychological Bulletin, 112, 284–309.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Doob, A. N., and Kirshenbaum, H. M. (1973). Bias in police lineups – partial remembering. Journal of Police Science and Administration, 1, 187–293.Google Scholar
Elaad, E., and Ben-Shakhar, G. (1997). Effects of item repetitions and variations on the efficiency of the guilty knowledge test. Psychophysiology, 34, 587–596.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Engelkamp, J. (1998). Memory for Actions. Hove: Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Gamer, M., Kosiol, D., and Vossel, G. (2010). Strength of memory encoding affects physiological responses in the Guilty Actions Test. Biological Psychology, 83, 101–107.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gamer, M., Verschuere, B., Crombez, G., and Vossel, G. (2008). Combining physiological measures in the detection of concealed information. Physiology and Behavior, 95, 333–340.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Graham, F. K., and Clifton, R. K. (1966). Heart-rate change as a component of the orienting response. Psychological Bulletin, 65, 305–320.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jokinen, A., Santtila, P., Ravaja, N., and Puttonen, S. (2006). Salience of guilty knowledge test items affects accuracy in realistic mock crimes. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 62, 174–184.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kircher, J. C., and Raskin, D. C. (2002). Computer methods for the psychophysiological detection of deception. In Kleiner, M. (ed.), Handbook of Polygraph Testing (pp. 287–326). San Diego: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Kopelman, M. D. (2002). Psychogenic amnesia. In Baddeley, A. D., Kopelman, M. D., and Wilson, B. A. (eds.), Handbook of Memory Disorders, 2nd edn. (pp. 451–471). Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Loftus, E. F., Loftus, G. R., and Messo, J. (1987). Some facts about weapon focus. Law and Human Behavior, 11, 55–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lykken, D. T. (1959). The GSR in the detection of guilt. Journal of Applied Psychology, 43, 385–388.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lykken, D. T. (1998). A Tremor in the Blood. New York: Plenum Press.Google Scholar
Lynn, R. (1966). Attention, Arousal and the Orienting Reaction. New York: Pergamon.Google Scholar
Rosenthal, R., and Fode, K. L. (1961). The problem of experimenter outcome-bias. In Ray, D. P. (ed.), Series Research in Social Psychology. Washington, DC: National Institute of Social and Behavioral Science.Google Scholar
Sechrest, L. (1963). Incremental validity: a recommendation. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 23, 153–158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shapiro, D. (2002). Renewing the scientist-practitioner model. The Psychologist, 15, 232–234.Google Scholar
Stanovich, K. E. (2008). Getting things under control. The case of clever Hans. In How to Think Straight about Psychology (pp. 85–102). Boston: Allen and Bacon.Google Scholar
Sternberg, R. J. (1999). Cognitive Psychology. Orlando: Harcourt Brace College Publishers.Google Scholar
Szucko, J. J., and Kleinmuntz, B. (1981). Statistical versus clinical lie detection. American Psychologist, 36, 488–496.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Timm, H. W. (1989). Methodological considerations affecting the utility of incorporating innocent subjects into the design of guilty knowledge polygraph experiments. Polygraph, 18, 143–157.Google Scholar
Underwood, B. J. (1957). Interference and forgetting. Psychological Review, 64, 49–60.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Verschuere, B., and Crombez, G. (2008). Deja vu! The effect of previewing test items on the validity of the Concealed Information polygraph Test. Psychology, Crime & Law, 14, 287–297.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, A. M., Matthews, D. B., and Best, P. J. (2000). Ethanol, memory, and hippocampal function: a review of recent findings. Hippocampus, 10, 88–93.3.0.CO;2-L>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×