How (Un)biased are Airport Security Screening Procedures? A Social-Cognitive Experiment

Madhavan Madhavan

doi:10.3844/crpsp.2010.71.74

Abstract

Problem statement: This research examined the role that social-cognitive biases such as gender biases and racial biases play in decision making processes during the screening of carry-on luggage at airports. This research is unique in that no research so far has addressed the social-psychological underpinnings of airport security screening procedures. Approach: Participants (n = 36) performed a computer simulated task wherein they played the role of luggage screeners and detected hidden weapons in 200 x-ray images of passenger luggage. Participants saw each luggage image for 3 sec, thereby simulating the high time pressure and short decision time characteristic of busy international airports. At the beginning of each trial and before observing the luggage, participants were shown the picture of the “passenger” to whom the luggage purportedly belonged for a brief exposure period. The passenger pictures were pre-tested and were representative of both genders and five different races (White, Black, Asian, Middle Eastern, Hispanic). After observing the passenger's picture, participants scanned the luggage and chose to either pass or stop the bag based on their diagnosis of weapon presence or absence. Results: Results revealed no significant differences in probability of correct detections as a function of passenger gender or race. However, the probability of generating false positives was significantly higher when the passenger was male; more importantly, this effect was observed for only two races-passengers of Middle Eastern or Hispanic origin. Conclusion/Recommendations: Participants purportedly depended heavily on their opinions of the passenger to make their decisions to pass or stop the bag when time pressure was high, almost as a heuristic replacement for visually scanning the bag under constrained situations. These results go beyond simple ingroup-outgroup differences discussed in social psychology; they point to deeply ingrained biases targeting specific demographic groups in the United States. These results are significant for airport security screening and the future of national security.

Highlights

In the screening of carry-on luggage at airports, the primary task entails the screener to search through an x-ray image of luggage within a brief exposure period (2-6 sec depending on queue length) and stop a bag that might potentially contain a threat
This is not necessarily wrong since there is some support for the fact that facial expressions can be indicative of negative intentions (Bonanno et al, 2002); we contend that overreliance on such external “cues” to make diagnostic decisions in luggage screening can lead to serious false alarms and loss of time and energy for both screener and passenger
Participants were inherently more suspicious of men than women suggesting the presence of a strong gender bias

Summary

Introduction

In the screening of carry-on luggage at airports, the primary task entails the screener to search through an x-ray image of luggage within a brief exposure period (2-6 sec depending on queue length) and stop a bag that might potentially contain a threat. One critical lacuna in existing research is an empirical evaluation of social-cognitive factors that might affect screener decisions to stop or pass carry-on luggage passing through the carousel. One of these involves the passenger that ‘belongs’ to the luggage and any biases the screener may have toward the passenger. It is frequently alleged that airport luggage screening procedures are biased by the characteristics of passengers themselves and are less influenced by the presence or absence of threat objects in the luggage per se. Answers to some simple but important questions are still heresy and have not been empirically examined - did the passenger appear a certain way to arouse suspicion? Was the passenger of a particular

Results

Discussion

Conclusion