Effects of goal- and task-oriented motivation in the guilty action test

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Abstract

The present study examined the effectiveness of the Guilty Action Test in detecting critical information from goal-oriented and task-oriented informed innocent examinees. A mock crime procedure was employed and informed innocent participants were either motivated to prove innocence (goal-oriented motivation) or to prove innocence by being cooperative on the test (task-oriented motivation). Half of the participants in each motivation condition were promised course credit reward for successful completion of their mission to prove innocence or to be cooperative (high incentive level). The other half were promised no reward (low incentive level). A fifth group of uninformed innocent participants served for control purposes. Electrodemal, respiration, and cardiovascular measures were used to indicate the motivation effects. Results showed that the combination of goal-oriented instructions and an incentive for success contributed to enhanced responses to the crime-related information. The combination of task-oriented instructions and an incentive for success attenuated these responses. Skin conductance responses were most sensitive to these effects. Theoretical and practical aspects of the results were discussed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)82-90
Number of pages9
JournalInternational Journal of Psychophysiology
Volume88
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 2013

Keywords

  • Autonomic responses
  • Cooperation
  • Detection of information
  • Guilty action test
  • Motivation

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology
  • Physiology (medical)
  • General Neuroscience

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