Open AccessBehavioural responding to concealed information: Examining the role of relevance orienting
Author(s) -
Bruno Verschuere,
Geert Crombez,
Ernst H. W. Koster,
Peggy Van Baelen
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
psychologica belgica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.511
H-Index - 33
eISSN - 2054-670X
pISSN - 0033-2879
DOI - 10.5334/pb-45-3-207
Subject(s) - psychology , relevance (law) , belgica , association (psychology) , impact factor , applied psychology , social psychology , political science , psychotherapist , law , cruise , oceanography , geology
The concealed information test uses physiological responses to assess whether someone possesses information. The theory of this test holds that enhanced responding to concealed information is based upon memory, orienting and attention. Specifically, it has been argued that concealed information elicits enhanced orienting due to its relevance. In the present study, we used a dot probe task in order to test this hypothesis. Fifty undergraduates were presented with concealed information, familiar but non-relevant information and unfamiliar information and asked to classify a immediately following dot probe. Participants made more errors in this task after presentation of concealed information, compared with both familiar non-relevant and unfamiliar information. Results provide support for the idea that relevance orienting underlies the concealed information test.