The Concealed Information Test -- Utilizing P300 data to determine the
presence of crime-related information in a suspect's memory
Abstract
The Concealed Information Test (CIT) is frequently used to determine the
presence of crime-related information in a suspect’s memory. In this
paper, we conducted a meta-analysis to test the validity of the CIT to
differentiate between guilty and innocent individuals based on
ampli-tude differences of the P300 component of the event-related
potential. We included experimental studies that used either the
mock-crime paradigm or the personal-item paradigm. The results show a
large mean effect size (d*) of 1.70 for the P300. Moderation analysis
showed that P300 effects in CIT are affected by the choice of paradigm
(personal item vs. mock-crime paradigm), the chosen trial protocol
(complex vs. original) and the likelihood of subjects to employ
countermeasures. Based on our findings, we conclude that the P300 is
useful to determine the presence of crime-related information and that
people interesting in using the CIT should use the mock-crime paradigm
with the complex trial protocol.