John J. Furedy

Theories and Applications in the Detection of Deception

1. History and Description.- 2. A Critical Comparison of the Major Methods of Polygraph Interrogation.- 3. Reliability and Validity of Polygraph-Based Classifications.- 4. Laboratory Studies: Factors Affecting Psychophysiological Detection.- 5. The Detection of Deception: A Psychophysiological, Specific-Effects-Oriented Perspective.- 6. Theoretical Issues in Psychophysiological Detection.- 7. International Usage Contrasts: Cultural Factors.- 8. Beyond Validity: Utility and Legal Considerations in the Application of Psychophysiological Detection.- 9. Future Perspectives.- References.

An integrative progress report on informational control in humans: Some laboratory findings and methodological claims

Abstract When noxious unavoidable events (e.g., shocks) are signalled (e.g., by a 5-sec. tone), it is widely believed that there is informational control (IC) in the sense that signalling reduces perceived event noxiousness; the IC mechanism arises through signal-elicited preparatory anticipatory responses which reduce event noxiousness; there is a prefere,nce for signalled over unsignalled events (preference for signalling). Since these beliefs, though related, are different, the relevant evidence from the Toronto laboratory is presented separately for each bekf. That evidence, comprising studies published from 1970-1974 and some additional unpublished experiments, indicates: (a) no support for an IC mechanism in the electrodermal, plethysmographic, and cardiac response systems; (b) no support for IC itself with shocks and loud noises as noxious events; (c) no general preference- for-signalling (PFS) phsnomenon (assertion based on total of over 570 Ss); but (d) a recent but consistently emerging specific...

Sexually dimorphic cognitive style in rats emerges after puberty.

In a water maze (WM), rats employ different and sexually dimorphic behavioral strategies to solve a place-learning task, a test of cognitive/propositional ability. Puberty is the last step in brain development and marks an important phase with regard to sexually dimorphic cognitive performance and behavior. The present study assessed possible sex differences in cognitive style before and after puberty in a WM place-learning task. Since nitric oxide (NO) is implicated in spatial learning and hippocampal function, and since brain NO(-)(2) + NO(-)(3) levels (stable metabolites of NO) display region-specific sex differences in rat brain, NO(-)(2) + NO(-)(3) levels were determined after behavioral testing. The sex-related style difference emerged very clearly but only in the adult rats, which suggests that the female behavioral strategy in the WM place-learning task requires the presence of female sex hormones at puberty. Although NO(-)(2) + NO(-)(3) levels were higher in the adult rats and males compared to prepubertal and female rats, respectively, no significant correlations emerged between brain NO and behavior. The fact that the behavioral sexually dimorphic cognitive-style effect observed here and in previous studies appears to emerge only after puberty suggests that awareness of such postpubertal sex differences may also be important in human educational and therapeutic contexts.

Sensitivities of HR and T-wave amplitude for detecting cognitive and anticipatory stress

Abstract Five groups of subjects were used to investigate the sensitivities of HR and T-wave amplitude for detecting stress associated with the performance of a difficult mathematical task and the anticipation of a noxious, noise stimulus following the task. During performance on the mathematical task, there were no group differences but HR showed a significant biphasic, acceleration-deceleration response while T-wave was significantly attenuated and remained attenuated for the entire duration of the task. During the anticipation period prior to the occurrence of the noxious stimulus, HR showed significant differentiation between the 5 groups in terms of the degree of anticipatory HR deceleration that developed while, on the other hand, T-wave amplitude merely returned from the attenuated level during task performance toward baseline levels at the same rate for all groups. It was concluded that T-wave amplitude was a more sensitive index of cognitive stress associated with the performance of a mathematical task while HR was a more sensitive index of anticipatory stress associated with the anticipation of a noxious event. In addition, it was concluded that most HR changes were parasympathetically mediated regardless of direction.

Preference for Signaled Shock in Rats? Instrumentation and Methodological Errors in the Archival Literature

The “archival” (refereed journal or invited review) literature almost uniformly indicates that, consistent with most currently popular theories of behavior, rats prefer signaled shocks even when those shocks are un-modifiable. However, the experiments reported in this literature are here examined on the basis of technical-apparatus (instrumentation) and experimental-design (methodological) soundness. With regard to the assessment of instrumentation problems, it was found that a type of modified Skinner box used in preparations reporting strong preference for signaled shock was subject to significant unauthorized modification of shock intensity, attributable in part to the geometry of the shock grid with respect to nonconducting surfaces. Methodological analysis of the structure of the experimental design, associated with evidence in the modified Skinner box, showed that this design is invalid logically as a preference index, because of asymmetrical factors in the behaviors associated with preference and in the consequences arising from these behaviors.

Nicotine interacts with sex in affecting rat choice between “look-out” and “navigational” cognitive styles in the Morris water maze place learning task

The effect of sex and nicotine on cognitive style was examined in rats using a water maze task that allows differentiation between cognitive ability and style. During the 12-day acquisition period with the platform in the same location (either visible or hidden) there were no effects or interactions attributable to nicotine and sex, either in terms of learning rate or asymptotic latency. On the final test day the platform was visible and shifted in its location, and on the first trial the new location was proximal to the rats starting position, in contrast to the more distal location of the platform during the previous acquisition days. This platform relocation presented the rats with a choice between two competing cognitive styles: using local visual (look-out) cues vs. navigational cues. Performance on the test day yielded a nicotine x sex interaction, such that only saline-treated female rats showed a clear preference for the perceptual-proximal look-out cognitive style by swimming straight to the newly-relocated visible platform with mean escape latency that approximated the limits of swimming speed. The other three groups did not differ from each other, and preferred navigational cues. The results show that male and female rats use different strategies in problem solving, and that nicotine shifts the female pattern to that of the male.

Relations among memory performance, mental workload and cardiovascular responses.

The levels of processing paradigm has been a powerful research framework in the study of memory for close to a quarter century. However, an objective index of depth of processing is still lacking. Two experiments using lists of words, presented to male subjects, wee performed to compare the effects of depth of processing, rate of presentation, and task incentive on recognition memory performance, self-reported workload, and cardiovascular responding. Memory performance results from the two experiments demonstrated higher recognition levels associated with deeper processing and slower presentation rates. Deeply encoded items were associated with faster recognition latencies. Self-reported workload levels were higher for deeper processing and faster presentation rates. Cardiovascular responses were generally amplified with the addition of a task incentive. Increased blood pressure was associated with faster presentation rates. Increased heart rate and decreased T-wave amplitude (i.e., increased sympathetic activity) were uniquely associated with the deep encoding of information presented at the fastest rate. This particular encoding condition was associated with increased recognition levels. Deeply encoded items were associated with increased suppression of heart rate variability during recognition. This combination of behavioral and cardiovascular measures may provide the basis for an objective index of depth of processing.

Beyond heart rate in the cardiac psychophysiological assessment of mental effort: the T-wave amplitude component of the electrocardiogram

The paper begins with an argument for going “beyond” heart rate for greater specificity in the measurement of mental effort. The added measure must reflect sympathetic nervous system (SNS) influences more clearly than does heart rate, which is predominantly influenced by parasympathetic factors. In considering what the human factors practitioner is seeking in the SNS measure, I discuss three requirements, the issue of convenience, and two marginally relevant considerations. The characteristics of T-wave amplitude (TWA) are then examined in this light. Recent evidence for the utility of TWA used jointly with heart rate as a psychophysiological index is then reviewed in terms of reactive sensitivity, specific sensitivity, complementary utility, and physiological utility. There follows a section that considers difficulties and confounding possibilities concerning TWA. The paper concludes that, although controversial, TWA appears to provide a promising psychophysiological path for using cardiac performance measures to aid in the measurement and understanding of the psychological process of mental effort.

Preference for signaled shock phenomenon: Direct and indirect evidence for modifiability factors in the shuttlebox

The experiments reported here investigated whether unauthorized shock modification is a factor which mediates the preference for signaled shock phenomenon (PSS) in the shuttlebox. This factor appearednot to have a critical role in PSS on the basis of earlier experiments which reported that PSS occurred in the shuttle-box even when shock was made unmodifiable by scrambling. However, the scrambling used in these experiments was not complete. In Experiments I and II reported here, no PSS occurred with completely scrambled grids; the phenomenon emerged only with unscrambled shock. Experiment III reports evidence indicating a connection between directly assessed modification and PSS with unscrambled shock, with PSS emerging only when modification had begun to occur. The pattern of results from these shuttlebox experiments parallels that found in an earlier study of PSS using a symmetrical-choice, barpress preparation.

The relative sensitivities of heart rate and T-wave amplitude to stress: comments on, and some alternative interpretations of, Penzien et al.'s results.

Although the joint measurement of heart rate (HR) and T-wave amplitude (TWA) in experiments manipulating psychological processes is a sound and fruitful approach, Penzien Hursey, Kotses and Beazels (1982) interpretation of their results may be questioned on two grounds: (a) Wether the process being manipulated between their groups was really the degree of stress; and (b) whether the degree of threat or aversiveness is really indexed more reliably by HR changes than by changes in TWA. This note questions these two assumptions, and also offers an alternative vagal interpretation of the Penzien et al. (1982) results.