How to spot a lie. Response conflict, sensory details and other theory-based approaches to memory and deception detection (PDF)

Essay from the year 2017 in the subject Psychology - Forensic Psychology and Penal System, grade: nicht benotet, Ernst Moritz Arndt University of Greifswald, language: English, abstract: Early psychophysiological approaches were based on the assumption that anxiety in the situation of an examination discriminates between deceptive and truthful testimonies. Since then, different procedures have been developed that aim at detecting deception. The theoretical underpinnings of these procedures are diverse and differ in precision. This paper will propose a framework for deception research based on established psychological theories.

This work begins with a brief review of the most important psychophysiological procedures used to detect memory and deception as well as their respective theoretical foundations. Then an attempt is made to build a conceptual framework for deception research based on established psychological theories. In this endeavour, the complex process of deception versus truthful memory-based reporting will be broken down into the simpler mental processes that can be theoretically expected to be involved.

The theoretical assumptions on the mental processes behind lying will be linked to relevant neuropsychological and psychophysiological findings, while taking into consideration the typical restraints given in the context of applied deception detection.