Deceptive Intentions: Can Cues to Deception Be Measured before a Lie Is Even Stated?

ABSTRACT: Can deceitful intentions be discriminated from truthful ones? Previous work consistently demonstrated that deceiving others is accompanied by nervousness/stress and cognitive load. Both are related to increased sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity. We hypothesized that SNS activity already rises during intentions to lie and, consequently, cues to deception can be detected before stating an actual lie. In two experiments, controlling for prospective memory, we monitored SNS activity during lying, truth telling, and truth telling with the aim of lying at a later instance. Electrodermal activity (EDA) was used as an indicator of SNS. EDA was highest during lying, and compared to the truth condition, EDA was also raised during the intention to deceive. Moreover, the switch from truth tell

SUBMITTER: Strofer S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4446301 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature