Cheating the lie detector: faking in the autobiographical Implicit Association Test.
The autobiographical Implicit Association Test (aIAT) was recently introduced in this journal as a new and promising lie-detection tool. The initial report found 91% accuracy in determining which of two autobiographical events was true. It was suggested that the aIAT, unlike other lie-detection tests, is resistant to faking. We investigated whether participants can strategically alter their performance on the aIAT. Experiment 1 showed that participants guilty of a mock theft were able to obtain an innocent test outcome. Two additional experiments showed that guilty participants can fake the aIAT without prior experience with the aIAT and when a response deadline is imposed. The aIAT is subject to the same shortcomings as other lie-detection tests.
Verschuere
Bruno
B
Department of Psychology, Ghent University, Belgium. bruno.verschuere@ugent.be
Prati
Valentina
V
Houwer
Jan De
JD
D000465:Algorithms; D001325:Autobiographies as Topic; D008192:Deception; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008014:Lie Detection; D008297:Male; D008306:Malingering; D011930:Reaction Time; D014936:Word Association Tests; D055815:Young Adult